


Red Tides

by hidingoutbackstage



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Crime Girlfriends what felonies will they commit, F/F, Jet is an Angy Boi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Rouge is smooth as fuck, Slow Burn, Wave is a gay disaster, and obvious as hell, oblivious to feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26068243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidingoutbackstage/pseuds/hidingoutbackstage
Summary: “Hey, aren’t you that bat lady, Rogue the Bat?”She bristled. “Rouge! Rouge the Bat!”“Sorry!” She held out a hand as an apology. “Wave the Swallow, pleased to meet you.”Aka there isn't nearly enough Wavouge on this site so I decided to write a multi-chapter fic myself
Relationships: Jet the Hawk & Wave the Swallow, Rouge the Bat/Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross & Wave the Swallow
Comments: 43
Kudos: 35





	1. First Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like B:TAS cuz this first chapter got some good inspo from it...you'll see how.

**Time: 1:13 am  
** **Location: Station Square Museum of History  
** **Operative: Wave the Swallow**

Wave landed on the roof of the building as softly as she could. Her eyes scanned the skylights for that one specific window…there! She grinned as she gently pried it open, feeling extra satisfied when no alarm went off. Good, their tampering had worked.

“I’m on the roof. Got the window pane open,” she whispered into her communicator.

“Any alarms?” Storm’s voice sounded from the other end.

“Nope. I told you it’d be worth it to hack the system ahead of time.”

“Enough gloating, just get in there already,” Jet’s voice ordered.

Wave rolled her eyes. “Roger, boss.” She slipped through the opening and hovered at the ceiling, her wings fluttering to keep her suspended. She glanced around the room until she saw the glass case with the large clear diamond. She grinned and flew over to it silently.

Her boots gently hit the ground in front of the display. The gem sparkled in the moonlight, Wave could almost feel it in the palm of her hand. It just took care and precision. She took her glass circle cutter out of her bag and pressed it against the case. It was just beginning to cut into the glass when an alarm went off. What? But she’d been so careful!

A loud crash a few halls down assured Wave that her actions weren’t the cause of the alarm. A few seconds later a woman flew out of the hallway on dark wings.

Wave frowned and glanced back at her diamond. “To heck with it,” she declared, pulling out a large wrench and smashing the case. She grabbed the diamond, stuffed it into her satchel, and bolted in the same direction the other person had run.

She caught up with the mystery woman at the entrance, where lights were flashing through the glass doors, yellow light of flashlights, and red and blue lights of cop cars.

There were already police swarming the entrance. Great. Just great.

The woman stood frozen before whirling around, right into Wave, who grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a wall out of the cops’ sight.

Wave spun and glared at the stranger, getting a good look at her for the first time. She had white fur, big ears, wings, and was wearing a dark purple and pink outfit. “Nice work, bat-brain, why not just call Sonic the Hedgehog while you’re at it?!”

“I wasn’t trying to get caught!” the woman sneered.

Wave scoffed. “Could’ve fooled me.” Something about the fellow thief looked familiar. “Hey, aren’t you that bat lady, Rogue the Bat?”

She bristled. “Rouge! Rouge the Bat!”

“Sorry!” She held out a hand as an apology. “Wave the Swallow, pleased to meet you.”

The bat gave her a funny look. “This is not a good time to get acquainted.”

There was some shouting and the sound of doors being forced open. Instead of shaking the swallow’s hand, Rouge grabbed it and pulled her further into the hallway. The pair crouched behind a large fake dinosaur display as they heard footsteps approaching.

Rouge looked at Wave desperately. “Any ideas?”

Wave glanced down at the box the other was holding. “What’s that you’ve got there?”

She opened the box to show off the contents. “Some old mechanical parts from the historic building section of the museum.” Wave peered at the gears, screws, nuts, her gaze finally landing on a flat, little gear with razor sharp teeth.

“It’ll have to do,” she said under her breath, eyeing the large pteranodon skeleton hanging from ropes above the cops. She took a second to assume trajectory and threw the circular thing as hard as she could at the skeleton. Just as she’d hoped, the gear cut the ropes and the skeleton fell on the cops, pinning them down.

“Yes!” Wave squealed, before remembering their situation. “Come on!” she said to her fellow thief. They both leapt into the air and flew over the mess of bones and angry police officers, down the halls, and out the door.

“Nice meeting you, but I’ve gotta fly,” Wave said with a spin and a wink. She expected a similar farewell in response, but was surprised by the bat tugging at her wrist and pulling her to the ground with her.

Rouge shook her head and pointed at the sky. “Bad idea. Look.” Wave looked up and saw a large aircraft-no, strike that, _multiple_ aircrafts hovering above them.

“What is…?”

“It’s G.U.N.” Rouge pulled harder on Wave’s wrist. “Come on, to the car.”

“What car?” The bat grabbed something-a key-from one of the pockets in her uniform and pressed a button. Instantly, a small black car appeared a few feet away from them, as if it had been invisible and just appeared. Wave didn’t question it, she just followed, her hand still in Rouge’s grip.

The two mobians jumped in the vehicle, Rouge in the driver’s seat and Wave riding shotgun. The car took off zooming away from the museum, swerving around a police cruiser that was arriving and attempting to block them in. They barely missed it, but it sent the cop car crashing into a tree.

“Ha! Nice!” Wave said, looking back at the chaos. She turned to see Rouge, smiling at her from the driver’s seat. The two high-fived triumphantly, and Wave felt a warm buzzing sensation grow in her chest. Though that could have been an incoming message from her communicator…her communicator!

She pulled the device out of her pocket. “Jet? Storm? Can either of you hear me?”

Some crackling before Storm’s voice came through. “Yeah, we got you, Wave. What’s up?”

“I may have ran into…” She looked at Rouge, who was focused on driving. “…complications. But don’t worry about me, I’ll be alright.”

“What? What complications?” Jet demanded.

“Turn that thing off,” Rouge requested, her eyes not leaving the road. Not wanting to upset her getaway driver, Wave obeyed, shuttling it down completely.

“Hey, uh, where are we going?” Wave asked, suddenly realizing how they were leaving the city.

“Back to my base. There’s cops and G.U.N. all over that museum. My hideout is pretty secure, if I do say so myself.” She paused, stealing a glance at Wave. “Do you have a secure place to go? If not, you’re welcome to stay for a day to lay low as long as you don’t cause any trouble.”

Wave couldn’t help but smirk. “Why do you trust me?”

“You helped me get out of that jam in the museum. And whatever crime you were committing, you pulled it off without setting off an alarm like I did. So I respect you.” The two women smiled fondly at each other. “Besides, I’m a pretty good thief myself, and a fighter, so if you were up to something in my base, I’d know right away and…” Her eyes raked over Wave’s form. “…take care of you.”

The swallow gulped. “Well, I can assure you, Rouge, I’ve got all I came for right here.” She patted her satchel that held the diamond.

“Good to hear.” They drove quietly for another minute before Rouge spoke again. “You know, I feel like this could be the start to a beautiful friendship.” The pair exchanged sly grins as the car zoomed off into the night.

* * *

“Welcome, welcome. Make yourself at home. Try not to touch anything that looks expensive.” Wave nodded, her eyes roaming over every inch of the surprisingly normal room. Sure, there were some items on display that were clearly stolen valuables, such as gems, gold statues, silver and bronze plates, pottery, but mostly the room was empty, save for a few chairs, a sofa and a long wooden table.

“Nice collection you’ve got,” Wave remarked, flopping down on the couch. “Small base, though. You sure this is as secure as you say?”

Rouge raised an eyebrow at her, placing her box of parts she’d taken from the museum on the table. “We literally drove through a waterfall to get to the garage and you’re doubting my security?”

“Fair, fair.” She glanced down at the box of parts. “What’d you steal those for, anyway? They look like ancient robot tech. Doesn’t exactly fit with everything else in here.”

“That’s because it’s not for display, it’s for use.” She grinned mischievously and took the box off the table. “Here, I’ll show you.”

She placed one hand under the table, a click noise sounding, before she pulled it upwards onto its side. It fell to the ground the opposite way, like it was on a hinge. Where the table had been covering was a square metal door in the floor.

“Neat secret,” Wave said. “Where does it go?”

“It leads to the rest of the base. Including my room, Shadow’s room, storage, and of course…the workshop.” She pushed some buttons on the door and heaved it open. Behind it was a ladder that led down. “Care to join me there?”

Wave’s better judgement was telling her this might be a trap, or at the very least a bad idea, but the more nerdy part of her brain was intrigued by the promise of a workshop, and to see just what those parts were for.

“Lead the way, Bat girl.”

* * *

Apparently, the reason Rouge had stolen the parts was for the giant E-Series robot that was in her workshop. His name was Omega, and Rouge explained that the parts, while old, would actually help him run better with her new programming. She’d been working on wiring more empathy and free-thinking into the bot, a difficult task to say the least.

Wave was intrigued the whole time listening to the bat’s explanation of everything she’d been working on. As she spoke she fit the shut-down Omega with the parts she’d stolen, pausing every once in a while to ask Wave to hand her something or ask for her input.

It’d been a while since the swallow had someone to match wits with, in terms of thievery as well as technological intelligence. Jet and Storm were good team members, but Rouge had a mature expertise that awed her.

After hours of the two talking mechanics, machines, thievery, adventure, and quite a while after Rouge had finished installing the parts in Omega, Wave decided to suggest heading back to her own base.

“Aw, so soon, dear?” Rouge twirled the wrench in her lap. “You’d be welcome to stay and rest up, if you’d like.”

Wave shook her head. “It’s almost 9 am. I’ve been here all night, my team is probably worried about me,” she insisted.

Rouge nodded. “Understandable. Would you like me to give you a lift?”

Wave smiled. “I’d love that.”

* * *

“All right, you can drop me off here, I’ll fly the rest of the way.” They were at about a two minute flight from where Jet and Storm had parked the ship during her heist.

“You sure, hun? I could bring you all the way if you’d like.”

“Not a chance. Trust me, it’s better for both of us if these two don’t meet you.” Wave grabbed her satchel, checked on the diamond, and exited the car.

“Very well. But, wait, one more thing before you go?” Wave stopped and looked at the bat, who was writing something down on a scrap of paper. When she was done writing, she pressed a little pink lipstick kiss to it and handed it to the confused swallow. “My number,” she explained.

Wave felt her face heat up beneath her feathers. “Uh, thanks. I’ll keep in touch,” she promised.

Rouge smiled at her. “May our paths cross again,” she said with a wink, closing Wave’s door and zooming off in her car, leaving the bird with a scrambled brain and a fast beating heart.

Trying to calm herself, she started flying to where she knew the ship was. Her mind was racing with what to tell her team. The truth? A complete lie? A version of the truth where she left out some details? Probably that one.

Hopefully, despite her long MIA status, she’d at least get an easy welcome from her friends. Hopefully they’d worry about her safety first rather than being angry at her absence.

* * *

“WHERE have you BEEN?!” a loud voice squawked the second Wave boarded the Rogue’s ship. _So much for an easy welcome._

“I ran into some complications on the mission,” she stated simply, shoving past the short green hawk and tossing him the diamond.

Jet caught the gem and admired it for a second before turning his attention back to Wave. “I _know_ that. You said so over your communicator. What I want to know is _what_ the hell happened.”

Wave stopped and turned around, crossing her arms. “Hey, language, kiddo.”

“Wave!”

“You’re fourteen, you’re still just a baby.”

The young hawk seethed. “I’m the leader!”

Wave shrugged. “Yeah, that’s what we let you think.”

Jet growled, a low sound that wasn’t entirely unlike a motorcycle. “You’re dodging the question. What. Happened. To you? It’s not unusual for you to run into ‘complications,’ but an hour after that transmission and still no word from you was irregular, and then you were gone for SEVEN MORE HOURS; it was concerning.”

A faint smile tugged at Wave’s beak. “Concerning?”

Jet frowned. “Yeah, Storm was starting to worry about where you were. And you know how annoying that oaf can be when he’s freaked out.”

Wave let it slide. She knew the angsty kid had been worried for her, it was just difficult for him to say.

“Hey, Wave’s back!” a deep voice said, turning the corner into the hallway. Wave broke into a smile at the sight of Storm.

“Hey big guy!” she said as he lifted her up in a hug. “How you doing?”

“We missed you,” he said, setting her down. “Are you okay?”

“Just peachy, storm cloud.” She glanced down at Jet who had his arms crossed and was looking at her expectantly.

“All right, to answer your question, which is irrelevant to the outcome of the mission, by the way-”

“Bullshit.”

Wave ignored him. “There happened to be another robbery happening simultaneously in another wing of the museum.”

Jet raised an eyebrow. “Another robbery?”

She acted nonchalant. “Yeah, some chick named Rouge was going after ancient robot parts. Dummy accidentally tripped an alarm, so we got out of there together in her getaway car. I would’ve flown but the skies were overrun with G.U.N. helicopters for some Chaos forsaken reason.”

“Wow, you ran into Rouge the Bat?” Storm asked in awe.

“That’s the one. You know her?”

He nodded excitedly. “Yeah! She’s this really awesome thief. Lots of people know her name yet she can still get away with stuff all the time! She’s a legend! And really pretty too.”

Wave smiled to herself. She looked up when Jet elbowed her with a sly grin on his face.

“You agree with that last part?” he asked. 

Wave rolled her eyes and ruffled the short hawk’s feathers. “Maybe just a little. Her hideout was full of a lot of gems and tech things, so she sounds pretty accomplished. How’d you know about her, Storm?”

He shrugged. “How could you not? We’re thieves, and you’ve never gotten curious as to other people like us out there?”

Wave couldn’t argue with that. “Well, if we’re done here…” she plucked the diamond out of Jet’s hand. “…I’m just gonna stick this in the vault.”

“Aw come on,” Jet whined. “Can I just have it for a few more minutes?”

The swallow rolled her eyes. “You’re an actual toddler. No, I’m locking this up, okay? You can get back to working on our next mission, all right?”

The boy grumbled. “Ugh, fine. But I want some action this time!”

Storm and Wave laughed. Wave gave a small salute at the stewing hawk. “Anything you say, fearless leader.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how long this'll end up being, but please feel free to like/comment on this chapter uwu


	2. A Dark Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another mission, another complication

**Time: 4:57 pm**  
**Location: South Island**  
**Operative: Jet the Hawk**

“How’s it looking down there, Plane?”

“All good. The map seems legit, since everything has been here so far.”

“Good work, Plane.”

“And would you quit calling me that?” the boy squawked.

Wave covered her beak to hide her snicker. “Aw come on, Storm worked really hard on these code names, the least you could do is be polite and accept them, okay _Plane?”_

She could hear the eye roll in his voice. “Whatever, Ocean.”

“That’s the spirit!” She looked at the digital map on her computer. “Okay, so the underground entrance should be near those twin palm trees a few paces ahead of you.”

A beat of silence before an irritated voice came from the communicator. “I don’t see anything.”

Wave’s grip tightened on her communicator. “That’s because it’s _underground_ , you idiot.”

“…Right. I knew that.”

“Uh-huh.” This time Wave rolled her eyes. She turned to Storm, who was standing next to her, and shook her head. “He’s hopeless.”

“I heard that!”

“Can you hurry up and find the entrance already? Over and out!” She turned off her communicator and slammed it on the table. With a huff, she flopped down on the office chair and crossed her arms, her foot tapping on the ground.

“You don’t need to be hard on him,” Storm said carefully.

“Hmph. He acts like such a child,” Wave pouted.

“Yeah, because he is,” Storm reminded her. “And he’s trying. Sure he can be a little cocky, and disrespectful, but he’s fourteen, and he’s got big shoes to fill.” Wave sighed, feeling a little guilty, and began fiddling with her necklace. “The entrance is underground, and you didn’t even tell him how to get there.”

“We went over it during the mission briefing! The lever disguised as a branch on the tree.” She rolled the red ball of her necklace around in her fingertips, feeling antsy.

“You know he barely pays attention to those,” he pointed out. "He likes doing things in the heat of the moment. It's 'his thing.'"

Wave sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re-” she was interrupted by a loud crackling from the communicator.

“Hey, uh, Ocean? Lightning?” The two rogues exchanged fearful looks, Jet actually sounded _worried_.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Wave asked in as calm a voice she could.

“There’s…there’s someone else here.”

Well that was certainly bad news. “Someone else? How do you know?”

“Well, I heard someone speaking when I opened the secret door, and I saw her flying around the trees, and she-”

“Her? Jet, do you know who is-” Wave was cut off by loud cursing from the other end. “Jet?!” No response.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, already pulling up the tracking map on her communicator. “Storm, stay here and guard the ship. I’m gonna go see if Jet’s alright.”

“Can I come too?” he asked, following her as she grabbed her Type-W board from her workshop.

Wave shook her head as she located Jet’s communicator signal on her tracking app. “No, we need you here to guard the ship. And my board is built for speed, I can get to him the quickest.” She hopped on her board, taking a second to adjust her center of gravity. “I can trust you here, right?”

Storm nodded, running like a cartoon back to the main control room.

Wave jumped out an open window of the airship, her board hovering above the tree she landed on, and took off, surfing over the canopy of the forest. She held out her communicator in front of her to see where she had to be going. The blinking red dot on her map, Jet, was getting closer with every second. Eventually, though it felt like an hour of flying, she was right over top of the signal. She skidded to a stop and dismounted her board, landing on a thick tree branch.

As quietly and stealthily as she could, she started to fly down, her eyes scanning the ground below for the rogue leader. She was distracted by sudden movement and muffled noises next to her. She whipped her head around to come face to face with a gagged, tied up, and very angry hawk.

“Jet?!” She landed on the tree branch and ungagged the poor boy, who wasted no time snapping at her.

“No, a clone. Yes, it’s me!” Wave rolled her eyes. A “thank you” would’ve been nice. “Now untie me and get me down from here!”

One look at those ropes and Wave knew untying her boss wouldn’t come easily. Whoever tied him up knew complex knots, and they were _good_ at them. “Who did this to you?”

The hawk opened his beak but immediately snapped it shut as he glared at a certain spot near the forest floor. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

A rustle of leaves down below caught her attention. She looked over the edge of the tree branch and saw a flash of white and black that suddenly lifted off the ground, breaking the canopy. A beam of sunlight flashed in Wave’s eyes. She covered them with one hand, blinking to clear her vision and cursing herself for leaving her sunglasses back at the base. A shadow appeared, blocking most of the light. Wave lowered her hand to see a creature approaching them, floating on dark wings.

“Hello, Wave. Fancy seeing you here.”

Holy shit.

“Rouge?! H-hey!” she stuttered. Like an angel, the bat hovered just above the tree branch the two birds were on, a burlap bag in one hand, the other resting casually on her hip. She was wearing the same skin tight purple and pink outfit she had on last Wave had seen her.

Jet scoffed. “You _know_ this lunatic?”

Rouge ignored him. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you so soon, hun.”

“Me neither, it’s only been, what, a couple of weeks?”

“My, time sure does fly for us, doesn’t it?”

Wave laughed harder than was probably necessary. “Ha! Fly, I get it.”

“Will you shut up with the bad puns and UNTIE ME ALREADY?!” Wave turned to glare at the impatient hawk.

“Oh, you never shut your beak, you can stand to be benched for a few minutes while I talk to my friend.” Jet gasped and Wave had half a mind to stuff the gag back in his mouth, but Rouge’s silky smooth voice immediately caught her attention once more.

“Aw, we’re friends, hun?”

Wave was thankful for her bright purple feathers, if only since it currently covered up how much the heat she felt in her cheeks. Probably just the sun on her face. “Yeah, sure? If you want to be?”

“I don’t often do ‘friends,’” she said with a shrug. Then, with an eyebrow raise and a smirk, “At least friends call when I give them my number.”

Oh yeah. That. She’d meant to call or text Rouge, honestly she did, but she always kept psyching herself out about it, or it would be late and she didn’t want to bother her. So, she was left to sit alone in her room and think about the beautiful thief, rather than make any contact. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been busy planning some treasure hunting. You know how time consuming that is.”

“Oh, don’t I ever. I’m actually in the middle of some treasure hunting right now.” She shook her burlap bag lightly.

“Really? Us too. What are you hunting for?”

Rouge’s smirk got even more devilish as she reached into her bag. “This.” She pulled out a bright green diamond shaped like a beetle with golden accessories.

Wave gasped as she realized what it was, but Jet beat her to voicing it. “Hey, that’s our gem!”

“Oh? Then why am _I_ holding it?” Jet didn’t have a rebuttal, so the bat just laughed and stuffed it back in her bag. “Here, since I’m feeling generous.” She snatched a few gold coins from her bag and tossed them at Wave, who caught them on instinct. The swallow looked up at Rouge, speechless.

“Maybe this’ll convince you to give me a call,” she said flirtily, fluttering forward to boop the end of Wave’s beak. Wave just stood there, paralyzed, her face growing ever warmer. “Farewell, brave treasure hunters!” the bat crowed, flying up, up, and through the canopy once more, the sound of her beating wings gone within a few seconds.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Wave tensed up, she’d nearly forgotten Jet was there. Putting on her best “what about it?” face, she turned to face the still tied up hawk.

“What?” she demanded.

“I can’t believe you let her get away!”

“What do you want me to do? Fly after her?”

Jet just stared, dumbfounded. “Yes!”

Okay, good point. She probably could’ve flown after Rouge, but she was just so awestruck it hadn’t even occurred to her. “Well, she’s gone now. Shall I untie you?”

The hawk sighed with relief. “Please.”

Wave got to work fiddling with the ropes, hoping she could figure out how to free her friend. “Now will you at least tell me how you got tied up in a damn tree?”

Jet sighed and sat still as Wave messed with his binding. “I found the lever on that tree branch you were yammering about during the mission briefing. But the second I opened it, that crazy lady-”

“Rouge,” she interrupted absentmindedly as she freed one loop.

Jet gave her a funny look. “Yeah, her. She came flying out of the secret entrance with the jewel in her hand. I tried to grab it from her and we had a fight over it. Eventually she grabbed the rope from, I don’t know, her belt or something and tied me up, gagged me and stuffed me up here. Then she was all ‘oops, forgot something-’”

Wave scowled at the high pitched voice Jet was using. “She does _not_ sound like that.”

He went on as if he hadn’t even heard her “-and went back into the secret entrance to get whatever it was. So I was STUCK here until you finally-OW!” Wave finally pulled the last piece of rope from around his wrist, grazing it against his arm as she did so.

“There. You’re out. Now we might as well get back to the ship with what we managed to pick up.” She held up the gold pieces Rouge had tossed her-it ended up being nine in total-and sighed. Nowhere near the big ticket item they’d come here for, but at least it was something.

Jet glowered and rubbed his rope-burned arm. “My hoverboard is still on the ground by the entrance. Fly me down there to pick it up, will ya?”

Wave resisted the urge to sigh. “It’s just one favor after another with you, isn’t it?”

“Need I remind you who’s the _leader_?” he said, sporting a cocky grin.

“Need _I_ remind _you_ who got stuck in a tree?” she shot back. The stunned yet angry look on his face was very little constitution for all the babysitting she was doing for him, but it was enough.

* * *

“Hey Storm, we’re back!” The two birds dismounted their hoverboards as they swooped into the ship through an open window that ended up leading to the lounge area. Wave took Jet’s board as the tired hawk collapsed onto one of the soft red couches.

“Wave! Is Jet with you? Is he okay? Oh! Boss, you’re safe!” Storm skidded into the room and wasted no time picking up the Rogue leader in a big bear hug. Wave stifled a giggle at the frustration on Jet’s face; Jet was never one to initiate affection towards others, but he usually didn’t object super hard to receiving it from others, usually just Wave and Storm, though.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright. Put me down, you big palooka.” He squirmed for a few seconds before going limp in Storm’s arms. The albatross set him down on the red couch he was laying on before and gave him a huge grin.

“So how’d it go? Did you get the jewel?”

Wave opened her mouth to debrief, but Jet’s shrill voice beat her to it.

“No, because Wave’s stupid girlfriend got to it before us.”

Wave curled her hands into fists, her face aflame.

“Rouge is _not_ my girlfriend,” she said through a clenched beak. “And what Jet _meant_ to say is that he failed at getting the gem because he got himself tied up in a tree.”

“ _Your_ girlfriend tied me up!”

“Not my girlfriend!”

“Whatever! She tied me up and you let her get away!”

Wave scoffed. “It’s not like we came away totally empty handed. Nine gold coins is something, right?”

“Oh sure, nine gold pieces totally makes up for the multi million dollar jewel that slipped out of our fingers!” Wave huffed but shut her beak. As annoyed as she was with Jet, he did have a good point.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Wave said nonchalantly. The words still made Jet raise an eyebrow. “We both could have performed better on that mission, but the fact of the matter is we don’t have the jewel, and we do have some gold coins, so we might as well make the most of it. Got it?” She stuck out her hand as an extra show of apology. The hawk just stared at her, clearly contemplating shaking her hand.

“Aw, come on, boss, you know you can’t stay mad at any of us for long,” Storm said, clasping his hands together and looking at Jet with pleading eyes. With a grunt and an eye roll, he shook Wave’s hand, very pointedly ignoring her smug grin as he did so.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. I’m sure those coins have some amount of value. Storm, you go research exactly what they are and exactly how much they’re worth.”

The albatross gave a formal salute. “You got it, boss!” He snatched the coins from Wave and zipped out of the room.

“And Wave?” She stiffened, mentally preparing herself for whatever request was to come, but otherwise physically remained relatively neutral, giving Jet her full attention.

He gave her a once over before declaring, “Get some rest.” The girl blinked, trying to process what Jet had just said, but he was already grabbing both hoverboards and exiting the room.

“Wait, what?” she asked. Jet turned to look at her, clearly annoyed.

“You had a stressful and exhausting day, I can imagine you want some rest. So go do that.” His face was sporting a serious frown, but all Wave could do was smile. Despite his annoying edge, he cared for her; he really did.

“You got it, boss,” she said softly, giving him a small salute before following him out of the lounge.

* * *

Wave was curled up in the hammock in her bedroom, a knit white blanket tossed over her. Her boots were kicked off in the corner, she’d taken off her bandana to let her hair down, and she had changed into her comfort outfit, a soft yellow tee and cuffed gray sweats. The lamps in her room were dimmed, the main source of light coming from Wave’s communicator screen. The blue glow being inches from her face probably wasn’t good for her eyes, but that was the farthest thought from her mind.

She stared at the screen, at the contact info just waiting for her to utilize, waiting to reach out.

**Rouge <3**

**555-228-2883**

Wave could call her. Or text her. Even something as simple as a “hey” or “it’s me,” at least so Rouge would have her contact in return. Then they could talk about what’d happened today, Wave could ask what Rouge wanted the jewel for, though it was probably just classic thievery. She could talk more mechanics with her, like when the two had first hung out at Rouge’s base. She could ask Rouge what the bat had been up to recently, and what she was planning on doing in the future.

But none of that would happen if she couldn’t _pick up the phone and talk to her!_

With a sigh she let the communicator fall face down on her chest. She was hopeless. For some reason, reaching out to Rouge was scary. What was she scared of? Rejection? Rouge had given Wave her number, and had brought up how she wanted Wave to call; she probably wouldn’t reject her. Not being rejected? Today had been strange, she’d been so much more awkward today than when she was at Rouge’s base. What if the bat wanted to talk to her, but Wave looked like an idiot when doing so? That’d be even worse than rejection.

Sweet Babylon, why was she like this? How did a simple woman like Rouge the Bat immediately make Wave’s brain a jumble of words that she couldn’t untangle when she was usually so cool and confident? Was it because her presence and confidence topped Wave’s own? Was it because she was so pretty and smart and talented that Wave felt inferior? Was it because Wave had a crush on-

The second that thought entered her brain, Wave slapped a hand over her beak in real life. No, no way. She did not have a _crush_ on _Rouge the bat_ . Wave was 18 damn years old, she had been the mom friend of her group for years, she was mature, and mature people didn’t get _crushes_ on girls they barely knew and just found attractive and had a long conversation with one time.

The blush on her cheeks and steady drum of her heartbeat begged to differ.

Okay, so maybe it was a crush. Of course it was, Rouge was really pretty, confident, flirtatious, sassy, intelligent…Wave felt her legs going weak and shook her head to try and admonish those thoughts. Rouge was a free spirit, a total enigma. From what she’d heard of Knuckles’ complaints to Storm, she was constantly flirting with him to try and get the Master Emerald. So maybe that was just her whole thing, getting on peoples’ good side in order to get what she wanted, like how she’d escaped with the beetle jewel today.

It didn’t make Wave want her any less, though. She wanted to see that smug smile, to hear her velvety voice, to watch those gloved hands hard at work fixing another robot, or softly holding Wave’s hand as they walked together…she giggled at that last thought.

Giggling. She was giggling, like a freaking child. Like whenever Storm successfully pulled off a mission, or whenever Jet got a text from Sonic. Ha. That boy had it so bad.

“Chaos, do _I_ have it so bad?” she mumbled to herself. She picked up the communicator which hadn’t left its spot on her chest, and looked at the number. One button press, that’s all it would take and Wave would be talking to the girl she’d suddenly caught feelings for.

She sighed and turned the communicator off.

Her pining could wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days? Don't expect this regular of updates, though, this is just my way of procrastinating all the homework I just got from my first 2 days of uni  
> Like/comment if that's your thing!


	3. Ocean's 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"They'll be watching you like hawks. Hawks with video cameras."_  
>  -Ocean's 11

**Time: 10:36 pm** **  
** **Location: Central City Casino** **  
** **Operative: Storm the Albatross**

The Babylon Rogues’ ship was parked about a two minute flight away from their target. The rogues themselves were dressed well for the occasion. Storm was wearing a nice dark gray suit and shiny blue tie, while Wave and Jet were dressed in all black outfits. Wave had swapped her white bandanna for a black one and tied up her feathers in a single braid behind her rather than two on the sides of her head. Jet had put his feathers up in a single high ponytail and two streaks of black paint under each of his eyes, ignoring Wave’s jabs about how it was “so extra.”

They were all in their positions. Jet and Wave were at the base, ready to jump out at a moments’ notice, and Storm was just about to enter their casino.

“Remember, Lightning, you just need to play up in the front for about ten minutes, make a big show about losing, and start some kind of fight. It just needs to be a big, long distraction,” Wave reminded him over her communicator.

“Got it.”

"And make sure it’s something serious you’re losing. Maybe a couple thousand?”

Jet reeled at the suggestion. “A couple THOUSAND?”

“Relax, Tweety bird. If this goes well--which it will--we’ll make up for it several times over.” The boy huffed but didn’t say anything more.

“I’m going in,” Storm said over his earpiece.

“Good luck, Lightning. Over and out.” Wave checked the time display on her communicator. 10:37. At 10:45 they launch out of the ship and execute their heist.

“Do you think he can do this?” Jet asked, nervously tightening his ponytail.

Wave nodded seriously. “Definitely. If it’s gambling, Storm’s our man. Exhibit A, he always beats you at blackjack whenever we play.”

“Because he CHEATS!”

Wave stifled a snort. “Because YOU have too much confidence in the cards and keep busting.” She adjusted her belt, her hands running over all the tools she was bringing to make sure she had them. “Anyway, I told him to try and gather some up in blackjack for ten minutes then head to craps and start betting on snake eyes. He should lose plenty soon enough.”

“Ain’t we lucky gambling age here is 18 instead of 21 like other places?”

“Yeah, and lucky for us _you_ didn’t insist on being our gambler with that fake I.D. I know you have.” Jet gasped and tried to stammer an excuse, but Wave’s cackle drowned him out.

“Oh relax, twelve-year-old, what am I gonna do, snitch on you?”

"Can we please change the subject?” he growled.

“Sure,” Wave chirped. “How are things going with Sonic?”

“Wave!”

She took in Jet’s ruffled feathers and obvious color in his cheeks. “That well, huh?”

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

A silence fell over the two of them as they watched through the window. Wave’s eyes took in the bright beautiful lights of the city at night, they shone brightly like a deep blue sky littered with stars. It really was a spectacular view. The missions that the rogues were constantly on required them to always be on the move, to not be in one place for too long lest they get caught, and as fun and unexpected as that made life for them, it was also kind of lonely. Wave wished that after this heist, she could hop up on the ship and just look over the city with Jet and Storm. But alas, their plan required a speedy exit once the job was done. Nonetheless, she chose to live in the moment, taking in everything she could see below her.

“Quite a view, huh, Ocean?” Wave was startled out of her thoughts by Jet’s knowing voice. She’d definitely been wistfully staring. _“You can’t let anyone see what you care about, it’s a weak point,”_ the stern voice echoed in her head.

“Yeah. It is,” she said confidently, giving him a smug “what of it?” look.

Jet just shrugged. “I figured you’d like it.”

That was certainly interesting. “Why would you think that?”

The hawk had turned back to face the cityscape, his eyes on the lights below though he continued. “You smile differently when you look at cool views like this. Sunsets, or reaching expanses of forests, you light up all dreamy like.” His shoulders raised as he tensed up, but he kept the same cool, even tone. “You look really happy. It’s a different kind of happy than you usually are. More…soft.” He risked a look back at Wave, who was all but beaming.

“I didn’t know I was that obvious,” she said honestly.

“You’re not,” he scoffed, his face feathers starting to look a little bit frazzled. He wasn’t used to being this open and honest and it clearly annoyed him. “But I’ve been stuck with your sappy ass for a long time, so I guess I’ve noticed some things.”

Wave was stunned. She could call him out right now, for showing his caring nature when he was so used to barking orders and pretending to be emotionless. It’d be funny, he’d clearly hate it, and it would just lead to their same old back and forth ribbing. Wave had a whole slew of jokes and light insults at her arsenal, but in all honesty, she liked this side of Jet. The side that showed how kind and thoughtful he could be. The hawk was like a brother to her, and she didn’t want to discourage him from showing her this side of him again.

“Well, I’m not gonna argue with you,” she finally said, turning back to the window and gently leaning forward, resting her arms on the windowsill. “It really is quite a view.”

In the corner of her vision she saw Jet mimic her, leaning forward on the windowsill and gazing down at the city below.

“It sure is.”

The pair stood there in silence just observing the city until Jet’s communicator beeped. That was their alarm, it was about time to fly in. They ran to the escape hatch and tossed it open. Wave fluttered up, ready to grab Jet to fly them both down. He gave a curious look at her outstretched hands.

“I thought we were doing the ‘I hold on to your feet’ method. It’ll make it easier for you to swing me in-”

“What? No, we were doing the ‘I wrap my arms around your chest for support,’ cuz it’s less likely I’ll drop you.” They stared at each other for a moment, both clearly mulling over the pros and cons. Jet glanced at his communicator, the timer ticking down their narrow window they had to execute their plan. Sighing, he turned so his back was to wave and he lifted his arms.

“You’d better hold me tightly.” Wave wrapped her arms around Jet’s torso.

“Don’t worry, boss. I gotcha.”

_Beep!_

Jet pressed a button on his communicator. “Let’s go!”

Wave jumped out of the ship, grasping Jet tightly in her arms as they flew over the city. She was lucky he was light, it didn’t mess up her center of gravity too much as she steered them in the direction of the casino. They’d really picked a perfect joint, one with a tall gold dome that was perfect for landing on and sliding down the side, which they did.

“All clear?” Jet whispered.

Using the heel of her black shoe, Wave kicked out the security camera just below them.

“All clear.” She grabbed Jet again and flew around the edge of the dome, using as much force as she could to swing them in the direction of the open vent that they’d pried off earlier. The pair crawled through the tight quarters until they were over their target location. Jet gave a punch to the grate, knocking it off and dropping into the room below. He landed as gracefully as he could his shoe slightly slipping out from under him, while Wave simply fluttered down.

“Storm, we’re in! How’s the game going?” Wave held the communicator right up to her face while Jet stood lookout, checking the hallway to verify it was empty. Just down the left hall were the doors to the vault, they just had to make sure the coast was clear.

An agonizingly long pause before a cheery, “Doing well, Ocean! Think I might start heading to craps after this. You know I love them dice!” Wave couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto her face.

“Attaboy, Lightning. Just keep…” She trailed off as there was suddenly static coming from her communicator. “Lightning? You there?”

Jet glanced back at her, his ears having perked up at the confusion in her voice, throwing her a clear “is something wrong?” look.

She tried again. “Lightning?” The static fizzled out, and her partner’s voice came through clear as day.

“You say something, Ocean? What was that, Tooth? Oh, yeah, just got the missus on the phone right now. Oh, sure I’ll take another hit-”

“Storm,” Wave said through gritted teeth.

“Right. One moment fellas.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to plan. I’ll head for the next table soon. You two better be in position when I am. Huh? Yeah, fellas, of course I’ll take another-”

Wave ceased reception on her end. “Everything’s fine,” she reassured Jet. Out of a pouch on her belt she pulled the remote control explosives and handed them to her partner.

“You got it from here, I’ll seal the doors. On you?”

Jet eagerly snatched the explosives, a grin plastered on his face. “On me.”

* * *

Wave had just finished sealing the doors when Jet skidded up to her. “You almost done? I set up the bombs like a minute ago.”

Wave added the final touch before placing her fiery tool back on her belt. “All set. Now we just gotta wait for-” Both communicators lit up with an incoming call. The two birds answered it with twin smirks on their beaks, delighted to hear the sounds of yelling and fighting from the other end of the line.

“That sounds like our fight. Wave, if you’ll do the honors.” Jet bowed slightly handing her the remote for the detonators. Wave wanted to roll her eyes at the theatrics, but just swiped the remote and eagerly pressed the big red button.

_KA-BOOM!_

“Vault time, baby!” Jet crowed. “Let’s move!”

“You got it, boss!”

The pair ran to the vault, delighted to see the door blown wide open and stacks of cash just strewn all around. Wave handed Jet his large money-collecting sack and took out hers as well, both pretty much jumping in to start scooping up as much money as possible. Most of it was in fifties and hundreds, which was delightful for them. In the midst of stuffing the bills into her bag, Wave absentmindedly felt grateful she’d worn gloves, otherwise she’d be risking papercuts right now. The other grateful thought at the more forefront of her mind was that they were well sealed off from the rest of the casino, and no one could reach them if they wanted to.

That thought was quickly diminished when a woman’s voice piped up behind her.

“You know, I’m starting to think you don’t even _have_ a cell phone.”

Wave spun around, a bright smile on her face. “Rouge!” she exclaimed happily. The flirtatious thief hovered in the air, her dark wings gently beating as they flapped behind her, blocking some of the overhead light and giving her yet another angelic like appearance. And Chaos, she looked good. She was wearing a royal blue satin dress with a side slit, showing off her right leg, a pair of elbow-length white satin gloves, as well as silver strappy heels. She had star shaped silver studs in her ears, a few silver bracelets on her wrist, and her face was done up with smoky eyeshadow and, true to her name, bright red lips. She was gorgeous and it had Wave feeling a certain type of way.

“Nuh uh! No way, you’re NOT getting all starry-eyed this time.” Jet berated, literally marching over to Wave and shoving her bag right under her nose. “Money. Vault. Now.”

It didn’t abscond her feelings about the newcomer, but it did put the heist into perspective. “He’s right, I do have a job to do.” She turned and got right back to shoving stacks of bills into her bag. That didn’t deter Rouge, however.

“Have you really been so busy with this you couldn’t give me a call? It’s been nearly two months since our last encounter.” Wave sucked in air through her teeth, feeling guilt set in.

“I meant to, honestly! This heist did require a lot of micromanaging.”

“Oh?” Rouge swooped down, leaning over Wave who was frantically collecting as many bills as she could get her hands on. Having Rouge in such close proximity was starting to make her feel warm and her feathers fluff up, and the last thing she needed right now was to be too distracted. “And you had enough down time to go boarding on Thursday evenings, but not to shoot your pal Rouge a text?”

Wave paused, raising a curious eyebrow. “How do you know when I was boarding?”

Rouge looked to the side, as if pretending to act sheepish. “I may have seen you riding.”

Wave did her best to hide how happy she was to hear that. “And you never thought to say hi?”

“Hey, less chit chat, more bag stuffing!” Both women turned their heads to scowl at Jet. “The guards could break down the door and be on our asses at any second!”

The teen was starting to get a little bit irritating. “Need I remind you that I welded the doors shut?” Wave asked.

“Need _I_ remind _you_ that the security guards are gorillas?” he shot back.

“Yeah yeah.” Back to putting money in the bag. And continuing to talk with Rouge. “Say, what are you doing here? Seems pretty coincidental that you’ve shown up to three of my jobs at this point. I’d almost believe you’re following me.”

“Aw, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Rouge asked with a knowing laugh. Wave sighed. She would. “But no, I was here for some good old fashioned gambling when I picked up some radio chatter-you guys, I assume. So I came to check it out-”

“How? I sealed the entrances. Welded them shut and everything.”

“The vents, my dear.” Wave wanted to smack her own forehead. Of course, the vents. That was their escape plan, after all. “And, lo and behold, here you were.”

Wave’s bag was getting full, yet so much money still littered the floor that a proposition entered her mind. “Well, since you’re here, you wanna cash in?”

A shocked voice piped up. “Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, Jet. We’ve pretty much filled our bags at this point with more than enough and there’s still plenty left over.” He scowled at her, but before he could object, she turned back to smile at Rouge. “Help yourself to whatever.”

The bat looked touched. “My, that’s generous of you, songbird.” Her serious gaze scanned the entire safe, finally landing on Wave and giving her a once over. Chaos, her face got hot when Rouge just _looked_ at her for too long. And there was something a little more than friendly in that smirk Rouge was sporting. “However, very poor choice of words.” In a flash, she swooped forward and snatched the bag Jet was holding out of his hands before making a ninety degree turn and heading for the overhead vent in the hall.

“HEY! Get back here! Wave!”

“The hell are you yelling at me for?!” Rouge had already done her disappearing act. The birds were now left with one bag, and to make matters worse, based on the sounds coming from the other side of the door at the end of the hall, it sounded like the guards were trying to break through.

Wave seethed. “Ugh, we don’t have time for this. Here.” She tied up her bag and tossed it to Jet, who caught it with ease, though the confusion was displayed clearly on his face.

“Why are…”

Wave was already undoing her bandanna, tying it up again so it made sort of a bag shape. “I’ll get some more. You just get out of here, all right? Call Storm. Let him know his job’s almost over.” She began grabbing more cash and stuffing it into her makeshift sack.

Jet’s hesitance was brief. “Roger,” he said, simply nodding and taking off.

“Remember, wall vent in the side room-”

“I got it!” he hollered back at her, already in the room down the hall. Wave rolled her eyes, listening intently for the first sign of trouble as she shoveled as many hundreds into her bandana as she could.

The bangs against the doors were getting louder. Wave sighed and just tied up her bandana, shoving it in one of the pouches on her belt. She gave one last look around the safe. Part of her brain was reminding her, “don’t get greedy,” but another part wondered if she had any extra room on her tool belt to just grab a couple more bundles and-

_CRASH!_

Shit. There were three very serious and very angry looking guards who had finally broken through her welded shut doors. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

They began charging down the hall, and in that moment she knew there was no way of getting to the room Jet had escaped into. Her eyes flickered up to the ceiling, to the grate-less air vent that Rouge had undoubtedly slipped through. All right, that was her exit then.

She flew headfirst into the vent, immediately annoyed at how tight the confines were. She had to crawl on her hands and knees, or hover a little bit if she wanted. Whatever, she just continued in the way she hoped would lead to an outside vent. However, her pursuers were not giving up, as she barely missed a large dent in the bottom that was about the size and shape of a gorilla’s fist.

“Perfect,” she muttered to herself, crawling faster down the air duct as the punches continued to follow her. Only a couple hit her arms and legs, hopefully just leaving the most minor of bruises, but one came far too close to her beak for her liking. She’d like to keep her beak fully intact, thank you very much.

After about a minute of frantic crawling the fists stopped, and according to the map on her communicator, it was because she’d passed into the next room over a wall. Just a couple feet in front of her was a detached vent covering, and based on the way the metal was bent, it was likely busted out from the inside. Wave smiled as she continued following Rouge’s path.

She dropped into the room, coming face to face with another damn gorilla, who looked surprised to see her. A quick glance at her surroundings told Wave this was probably the break room. How this guy hadn’t heard of the robbery, she had no idea. But she wasn’t sticking around for him to realize and arrest her, so with a two fingered salute she threw open the door and flew into the hallway.

“Ugh, why couldn’t we have picked a less complicated casino?” she groaned as she tried to deduce her location on the map in relation to any exit. She was just flying down the hallway, passing doors and corridors that could hold anyone and anything, but she had no idea where she was going. She decided to turn a couple corners in a zigzag path, hoping to throw off anyone that might still be following her, but achieved quite the opposite as she suddenly came face to face with three very familiar guards.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” She immediately spun around and ran back the way she came, though who's to say if she was succeeding since all the hallways looked the same, refusing to look back even as she heard running footsteps growing closer and closer. She turned as many corners as she could find, hoping to confuse them, until suddenly-

She was yanked into a side corridor by a strong pair of arms just before some guards turned the corner. Wave felt herself get slammed against the wall in the tight hallway, one arm against her chest holding her down, the other clasped over the end of her beak to keep her from talking. She blinked rapidly, trying to get a good look at her kidnapper, and realized she was pressed up against none other than Rouge herself. Teal eyes glanced at the hallway she’d just pulled Wave from and back to the panicked swallow, followed by a wink and a “sh” with her lips.

Some voices called out to one another, asking if they’d secured the thief, and some responses about how she may have taken to the sky. Once the voices had quieted, Wave made an attempt to move, only to get held against the wall harder by Rouge’s hand, and now her body, that the bat pressed up against her.

“Quiet,” she hissed, her expression serious, making Wave feel flushed. “It’s a ruse, in case you’re hiding.” Sure enough, a few seconds later, though it felt like hours, she heard heavy footsteps walk away. Rouge’s face broke into a triumphant grin as she stared intently at the hall. “Hah. Fools.” She turned her attention back to Wave, who was still doing her best not to panic in these unusually tight and hot circumstances. That grin became a smirk. “Good girl,” she purred as she removed her hand from Wave’s beak.

Wave’s face was _burning_. Her brain raced for what to say before Rouge was grabbing her hand and running into the open area.

“Come on. Follow me.”

Rouge led the swallow down a few hallways, thankfully not running into anyone else, until they made it to a door marked “Exit.” There was also a sign that said “Alarm will sound if opened,” but Wave chose to ignore that little detail. She reached for the handle before remembering something.

“One moment.” Since they had a chance to breathe without guards immediately on their asses, Wave pulled out her communicator and sent out a signal to her friends. “Jet! Storm! Can either of you hear me?” The device was silent for an agonizingly long second before it sparked to life.

“Hey Wave!” Storm’s voice sounded. “We’re together, me and Jet.”

The swallow let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. Did you two make it out?”

“Yeah, we’re out. And we got the money.”

Two for two! “Where are you?”

“On the ship, ready to take off. Where are you?”

“What?” Wave looked around at her position on the map she and Rouge were in. Far away from where the ship had been parked. “I went, like, in the opposite direction!”

“Why in the name of Chaos did you do that?!” Jet squawked from the other end. Then, almost immediately, “Is Rouge with you?”

“Uh,” She paused, looking at her fellow thief, who just shrugged. “Negative.”

Apparently that was the wrong answer.

“Positive.” Wave glared at the smug bat, who just shrugged once more, clearly uncaring of the consequences of what she’d just said.

A gasp came from the communicator. “You’d better leave our Wave alone, you-you…bat bitch!”

“Jet!” Storm scolded.

“She helped me escape,” Wave explained. “Look I’ll get to the ship soon, okay?”

Jet huffed. “Fine, just hurry up before-” he stopped suddenly, and Wave could make out yelling and loud banging noises followed by some squawked cursing.

“Jet! Storm! What’s going on?” Wave clutched her communicator anxiously.

“We got trouble on our ass. We’ll try to wait for you, Wave, but I don’t know how long we can hold them off. We could try to fly some distance to shake them but we might not be able to find you.”

Wave was stock-still. The last thing she wanted was for her team to get caught or in irreversible trouble. But, obviously, she also didn’t want to get left behind. She looked nervously at Rouge, whose mischievous smile had dissipated, leaving a concerned look in its place.

“Just go!” the swallow ordered. 

“What?” Jet squawked in disbelief.

“I’ll find somewhere safe to hide out. You two have most of our loot along with everything else on the ship. So just go! Fly away!”

“Where to?”

“Far enough away that you’re safe. Please.” The silence from the other end was agonizing.

“Okay.” “You got it, Wave.”

She let out a sigh of relief at both boys’ voices. “Thanks you guys. I love you. Over and out.” She pocketed her communicator and looked back at Rouge, who was studying her with a certain intensity.

“So…” she started. “You wouldn’t happen to know anywhere safe I could hide out for a bit, would you?” The intense look on Rouge’s face smoothed out into a graceful smile. Silently, she took Wave’s hand in her own and shoved open the door, causing an alarm to sound.

“I might know a place,” she purred, flying with Wave out the exit into the night.


	4. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Even when you're next to me_   
>  _It's not the way I'm picturing_   
>  _I'm just feeling low, feeling low_

“Welcome to Club Rouge.” The pair were standing outside of a dark building whose front was decorated with hot pink bat decorations, white star shaped lights, and a sleek neon pink and purple sign with the club’s name on it.

“You…own this place?” Wave asked.

“Mm-hm.” Rouge slipped a key from out of her glove and unlocked the front doors. The pair entered and Wave couldn’t help taking in how nice everything looked, despite the lights being off and the floor a bit of a mess. There was a well-stocked bar, an open dance floor, even some velvet seated chairs strewn about.

“Nice place you’ve got,” she stated lamely.

“Thanks. It’s just a little side gig I’ve got going to bring in extra cash. I’m not even here half the time, and as you can see by it being closed on a Friday evening.” Wave had found it a little odd, in all honesty.

“You really do just do your own thing, huh?

Rouge’s pace faltered. She glanced back at Wave, but just shrugged and continued. “Who would I be if I didn’t?” Wave didn’t have a response to that.

Rouge walked into the back room, and Wave wordlessly followed her up a few flights of stairs until they were on a much more condo-looking esque floor. They entered one of the doors, and Wave found herself in a small yet stylish living room.

“Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home.” The bat is already disappearing into the kitchen. Not wanting to feel weird about following her, Wave sat down on one of the black velvet couches. Her leg bounced anxiously as she glanced around the apartment. It was nothing like Rouge’s base Wave had been to months ago, full of nothing but treasure and a few basic furniture items, it was more like a display room than anything. This place felt more…domestic. Like a normal person lived here, instead of an international jewel thief.

Speaking of that, Wave couldn’t help but wonder how Rouge managed to live in a regular apartment with that kind of international status. After all, one of the best reasons the rogues lived on an airship was so they didn’t have to pay any stupid rent to people who could track their movements. They just flew where the wind took them. Maybe Rouge had people who owed her favors, or she was able to pay people off somehow. Being an accomplished criminal, it wasn’t unlikely.

“You hungry, sugar?” Rouge popped her head back into the living room. “I was just gonna have myself a smoothie. You’re welcome to anything you like.”

Wave glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s a quarter till midnight.”

“And?” She came back holding a large cup with an orangish yellow smoothie and thick straw in it. “Hunger has no time limits, my dear.” She flopped down on the love seat, her feet resting on the ottoman. “Feel free to help yourself.”

Wave shook her head. “I’m fine.” Rouge shrugged and took a sip of her drink. Wave tried not to stare, the heist had taken a bit out of her, and it would be nice to eat a little something. Still, she didn’t want to intrude. “What flavor is that?”

“Peach and mango. With some banana and a touch of honey, of course.” She took another sip and held the cup out to Wave. “Want some?”

“I’m okay, really.” That seemed to end the conversation. It suddenly got quiet, and one of the last things Wave wanted right now was to fall into an uncomfortable silence, so she pulled out her communicator. Almost immediately a hand was on her arm.

“What are you doing?” Rouge’s voice was calm, but her grip was firm. It made Wave feel a little uneasy.

“Uh, I was just gonna check in with my team? Last time I just disappeared without telling them they were…worried…” She trailed off, knowing that somehow it was the wrong thing to say.

Rouge studied her face intently, finally releasing Wave’s arm. “Probably not the best idea. You don’t know who could be tracking your signal. Remember how I made you shut it down the first time we met?”

Wave thought back to their first encounter, briefly remembering the blind obedience she gave Rouge, since the woman was her escape after all. She hadn’t even thought about checking in with her teammates at all until the morning. This time, though, she couldn’t help but worry. Probably because they’d been in danger this time. But she knew Jet and Storm weren’t stupid, and had performed well in worse situations. She could stand to leave them to her own devices.

“You’re right. Sorry.” She tucked the communicator back into a pouch on her utility belt, making sure it was powered all the way off.

“Well it’s nice to know you at least have an effective way to communicate with me, though it hurts a little that you choose not to for some reason.” Wave’s face paled. Rouge’s little smirk suggested that she was joking, though there might have been some truth to her words.

“I _have_ been busy,” she insisted.

“Sure you have, hun.” Wave scowled. Rouge snorted, taking another drink of her smoothie and rolling her eyes before continuing. “Relax, it’s not like I care too much.”

“You must care a little, since you keep asking about it.”

Rouge froze. The sudden silence was deafening. Immediately Wave wished she’d held her tongue, the last thing she wanted to do was upset the person who was giving her shelter. The woman’s mouth was a thin line as she raised an eyebrow in Wave’s direction.

“Sorry, I didn’t-”

“No, you’re right, songbird,” she said with a sigh. “I guess I care a little. Maybe I’m just not as used to rejection.”

It was Wave’s turn to give a confused look. “Knuckles throws you off his island all the time.”

“Fair. It’s just…different when it’s you.” The small smile Rouge gave her was…strange. It wasn’t like her typical smirks or rare genuine smiles, this one was…almost shy? What did Rouge have to be shy about? She probably just felt a little guilty about continually asking for Wave to call her and didn’t want to keep pestering her. Wave felt that, she hated bugging people even when it was something really important. She didn’t even realize she’d missed the point of what Rouge just said.

“I could text you right now, if you want, just so you-” Wave grabbed her communicator again, but once more Rouge’s hand stopped her.

“What did I say about outward communication less than five minutes ago?” The shy smile was gone, replaced with an exasperated frown. Damnit, that smile had been so cute too.

“…Right. Sorry.” She turned over her communicator and sighed at the little stickers she’d decorated it with on the back. A sparkly green feather, a shiny wrench, and a pair of yellow and blue goggles. Wave smiled to herself at the sight of them, until that happiness turned into loneliness. “Ugh, I can’t stop thinking about Jet and Storm,” she huffed, shoving the device back into her pouch.

“Those guys really mean a lot to you, huh?” Rouge’s voice was quiet and understanding.

“Of course they do. They’re pretty much my family.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“I’d do anything for them just to keep them safe.” Wave didn’t know what had set her off, but all the words were suddenly just tumbling out of her. She supposed it was because she’d never admitted any of it out loud, but- “Hell, I’d die for them if it came down to it.”

“Wow,” Rouge breathed. “That’s no small admission.”

“I mean it.”

“I believe you.” The silence that followed was brief, but so much hung in the air. “It’s nice to have people you feel so strongly for.”

“What about your friends? Team Dark?” Rouge seemed surprised that Wave knew about them. “I’ve heard of you guys. Aren’t you close with them?”

“Yeah, of course.” She paused to take a rather long sip of her smoothie, and Wave worried that’d be all the bat said. Luckily, she continued. “I’m used to my solo shtick, but I do have them. I don’t know if I’d go as far to say what you did about your team. Dying isn’t really my style. More of, I suppose I’d kill for them if it came down to it.”

For some reason those words made Wave’s blood run cold. “That’s no small admission either.”

“I mean it too.”

It almost sounded like a threat, but there was no bite in her tone. She was just stating a fact. Wave could never conceptualize the idea of killing another being, but she hadn’t gone through what Rouge had. They just had different perspectives on life.

A thought entered her head. “What about us?”

The bat tilted her head in confusion. “What about it?”

“Are we friends?”

She was more stunned than Wave had expected. Why? It was just a question. Sure, Wave had a schoolgirl crush on the bat, but she was more than willing to be friends, to be anything, as long as Rouge liked her in return. Probably not the same way, though.

“Would you like to be?” she finally asked.

_No. I want to be more. I want to be your partner in crime, I want to have more nights like this, I want to hang out with you in your apartment and just talk, I want to hold your hand without panicking and overthinking. I want to be someone you care about enough to kill for._

“Whatever you’re willing I’d love to be,” she said with a smile on her beak.

Rouge studied her for a second. “Friends it is.”

_Damn it._

“Good to hear, since you did extend that offer to me when we first met.”

Rouge chuckled. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah.” Wave laughed a little as well. “When we were escaping from the cops.”

“Oh, wasn’t that a treat? G.U.N. couldn’t even touch us.” She punched the air with her free hand and kicked her right leg, the one revealed by her dress slit. “Pow!”

“Yeah.” Wave could still recall that night well. The robbery, the escape, the fear, the fun, the adrenaline, the excitement. It was all a rush. One thing Wave found curious, though. “Why’d you run from them, anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you work for G.U.N.?”

Rouge nodded understandingly. She made a scale motion with her hands. “Well…yes and no.”

How in the world do you both work for someone and don’t? “Elaborate.”

“Short answer, yeah, I do. Long answer, it’s not super my choice, and working for them is a pain in the ass sometimes.” She scrunched up her nose in disgust. “But I wasn’t at that museum helping them, I was doing my own thing. I do that pretty often, cuz those fuckin cops can’t control me. Thing is, they don’t exactly like when their hamsters hop off the wheel. They were there for me that night, as I gathered items for my little ‘passion project.’” She sighed and twirled around the straw in her cup. “I didn’t want to be caught or have my hideout exposed. So I fled.”

Wave couldn’t imagine living that kind of life. Never trusting who you were working with, to the point you’d go behind their back just to do something you wanted, knowing how bad the repercussions would be. It sounded sad, to say the very least. “Damn.”

“Plus they would have wanted you, another thief, using one stone to hit two bir…” She trailed off, looking at Wave guiltily. “Anyway, I wasn’t about to let you get caught cuz I tripped the stupid alarm.”

“Ah gee, thanks.”

“You earned my respect that night, Wave. You were more stealthy than I and you got us out of a jam. Least I could do was give you a ride.” The compliments were both delightful to hear and flustering all the same. Wave hoped her feathers wouldn’t betray her feelings. “And it’s nice to talk to someone on the same intelligence and maturity level, you know? Shadow’s fine, but he’s really just a kid going through his edgy emo phase who doesn’t understand mechanics, and Omega’s simply a good ol’ fashioned murder bot.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Jet and Storm are good team members, but honestly, Jet’s just a middle schooler with anger issues and Storm doesn’t know the first thing about mechanics either.” To not insult her teammates _too_ much, she added, “Not that he can’t use weapons or hoverboards, he just couldn’t repair them with all the tools and an instruction manual in front of him.”

“Hoverboards, huh? Sometimes I forget you rogues have that as your side gig.”

“It’s good for letting off steam, it’s an efficient way to travel, racing competitively gets us some respect as well as the occasional monetary reward.” Wave leaned back and folded her arms. “And, most of all, it’s fun.”

“Fun? I’ll take your word for it, I suppose. Though zooming around on tricked up metal doesn’t sound like a ton of fun to me.”

Wave feigned a gasp. “Don’t tell me you’ve never ridden a hoverboard before!”

“All right, then I won’t tell you.”

“Oh my gosh, you’ve gotta let me teach you.” Rouge rolled her eyes, but Wave sat up and excitedly took the bat’s gloved hand in her own. “Please? Pleaseeee let me teach you!”

Rouge laughed, gently removing her hand from Wave’s grasp. “Easy, darling. I’d love to learn, but I don’t exactly have the equipment. And it’s probably not a good time of day for a beginner.”

Wave sighed, but didn’t protest. “Okay, that’s all fair.”

“You can teach me some other time, though. Promise.” Her teal eyes sparkled with excitement as she spoke.

Wave’s heart hammered in her chest as she spoke. “It’s a date.” There’s that genuine smile. Red lips turned upwards and parted slightly to reveal a bit of pearly white fangs, eyes half lidded and one eyebrow raised ever so slightly…sweet Babylon the sight of Rouge just smiling at her shouldn’t make Wave feel so happy, but it does.

_Damn it gay thoughts._

The swallow wanted to say something, anything, to keep that smile there, but when she opened her beak all that came out was a long yawn.

Wave felt her face go red as Rouge’s gentle laughter rang in her ears. “Tired, babe?”

“A little,” she admitted.

Rouge took a final sip of her drink, the slurping sound of an empty cup coming through the straw. “Well come on.” She put the cup on the coffee table and took Wave’s hand, leading her further into the apartment. “I don’t have a guest bedroom, but you’re welcome to sleep in my room if you’d like.” Her hand rested on the doorknob, but she looked at Wave questioningly, like she was asking her permission.

“Do you have like…a bed? Like a normal bed?” Wave wrung her hands nervously, feeling embarrassed about asking but a little bit of awkwardness would be better than a night of discomfort in the long run.

“I do, but just the one.” Rouge furrowed her brow, clearly trying to figure Wave’s behavior out. “Is that a problem?”

“No. Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, I don’t want to be any trouble-”

“Spit it out, darling.”

“I don’t sleep in a normal bed,” she blurted out, not wanting to be uncooperative. “A normal bed is fine, but like, it wouldn’t be comfortable for me.”

She expected disbelief, but was only met with a genuine question. “Then how do you sleep?”

“I have this hammock against my wall. It’s a little weird but it’s really comfortable. The main point is that it’s suspended in the air, and-”

“Hun, that’s not weird at all.”

Wave blinked. “It’s not?”

Rouge threw her head back in a laugh, opening the bedroom door. “I don’t use that bed either. It’s mostly just for guests, usually Shadow if he sleeps over.”

“Oh.” The room looked remarkably…unremarkable, in all honesty. The walls were a nice cool blue, there was a wooden dresser in the corner, and a similar style bedside table. There was a full length mirror in the corner next to a bookshelf which held more trinkets and knick knacks than books. There was also a closet, and on the back hung a hamper that was nearly overflowing with discarded clothes. It was relatively neat, though there were a few pictures and posters on the walls and some string lights hung up. And a gymnastics bar…for some reason. The bed in the center of the room, pressed up against the back wall, had a pink comforter and orange sheets, as well as a few decorative pillows. “Then how _do_ you sleep?”

Rouge smiled mischievously at her before lifting off the ground, flying to the gymnastics bar and grabbing it with one hand. She hung there for a moment, kicking off her heels, before swinging so she was hanging upside down by her legs and wrapping her wings around her body in one quick motion. She looked kind of like a dark burrito and Wave found it strangely adorable.

“It’s a bat thing,” Rouge explained.

“Huh.” Rouge undid her position and flew back down, landing directly in front of Wave. She must have been a little off with where she intended to land, because one of her wings brushed up against Wave’s arm. It sent a little shock into her skin, though it wasn’t anything electrical. More of a spark. Wave assumed it must have been static electricity somehow. “Well, my hammock is kinda like a nest, so I guess my way of sleeping is a swallow thing.”

Rouge’s face lit up. “I think I have just what you might need.” She grabbed a large piece of dark purple fabric from under the bed. Attached at the top were chains and a large hook. Wave just stared, confused, until Rouge fluttered over to the gymnastics bar and strung it up by the hook. “How’s this?”

It was a crow’s nest style hammock! “Oh, Storm has one of these at home!” Wave grinned, relaxing at the familiarity. She practically skipped over, nestling herself in the chair, feeling immediately relaxed and cozy. She poked her head out and smiled brightly at Rouge. “This is perfect. Thanks!”

“Anything for you, babe.” The look on Rouge’s face was so deeply satisfied and fond, Wave realized, and it was aimed directly at _her_. Purple feathers puffed up and Wave had to hide herself back in the hammock to conceal how flustered she was.

She hid in there for a good minute, willing herself to cool down, and when she re-emerged, Rouge was in a completely different outfit.

She’d changed out of her deep blue evening gown and jewelry into a white tank top with the word “She” in pink glittery cursive on it, and cuffed black sweatpants. She was in the process of cleaning off her makeup with a wipe when she saw Wave stick her head out via the mirror she was observing herself in.

“Well, glad you came out of there alive, songbird. I can imagine you want to change out of your espionage outfit.” Wave barely processed the woman’s words, her eyes her only working sense as she took in how _good_ Rouge looked. Chaos, even just a simple outfit as that had Wave’s heart beating like a bass drum.

“Hello? Wave?” The bat waved a hand to catch her attention.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

Rouge just shook her head, but was sporting an amused smile. “I assume you’d rather not sleep in your current outfit, yeah?” Wave nodded. “Well, I have a shower if you want, and you’re welcome to any clothes I have.”

Wave chewed on her lower beak nervously. Rouge was being way too nice, she shouldn’t take advantage of the woman’s kindness. “I’m-”

“Babe, you’re not intruding by accepting my offers for things you need while you’re here,” Rouge said knowingly. “Top drawer of my dresser, I’ve got some comfy pajama style clothes in there.”

Wave nodded, deciding not to take Rouge’s offer for a shower but to accept the offer for pajamas. She opened the drawer and scanned over everything the bat had. “Wow, you certainly like pinks and purples,” she remarked.

“Pink is a good color on me. Goes with the white fur.” Wave smiled to herself, imagining Rouge in some of the outfits that lay in the drawer. They were all pretty pictures, to say the least. “And I have a certain love for all things purple.” There was something unusual about her tone that made Wave look up. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt Rouge’s gaze penetrate right through her, those teal eyes inspecting her like a book, though Wave had no idea what she was reading. _“All_ things.”

She did her best to play it off with a smile. “Nice. I’ve always liked the color aqua, but for wearing I’m usually a fan of white.” She took a baggy white baseball tee out of the drawer, along with a pair of hot pink shorts. “Too many colors clash with my feathers, you know?”

“I suppose, dear,” Rouge said with a sigh.

Wave let down her feathers out of their braid and changed into the tee and shorts, relaxing into how comfy they felt, and relishing their scent. It likely wasn’t anything special, probably just a body wash that Rouge used that had clung to the clothes, but that along with how cool the fabric felt against her burning skin was enough to bring her to a kind of genuine peace.

“You look lovely in that,” Rouge commented. Wave smiled shyly, giving her friend a little twirl, to which Rouge whistled enthusiastically in response. “Girl, you look better in that than I do. You’re welcome to keep it if you like.” It took Wave a second to realize what Rouge was offering, the bat girl in the bathroom already in her bathroom a bit down the hall by the time she finished processing the words.

“I mean, it’s your clothes, I’d feel bad if I took something that was yours,” Wave said, catching up to Rouge, who was focused on herself in the mirror, rubbing a fluffy white cotton ball covered in a clear liquid over her muzzle.

The bat let out a chuckle. “Wave the Swallow, world famous Babylon Rogue and thief, feeling bad about taking someone else’s belongings?” Wave felt a flash of embarrassed heat in her cheeks. “Now that’s certainly a first.”

“We’re friends,” she defended. “I don’t steal from friends.”

Rouge hummed, switching over from the cotton ball to a white cream. “It’s not thievery if I say you can have it.” She looked over at Wave, her eyes glancing down at Wave’s beak for a moment. Oh, chaos, what was she thinking?

She held out a tube of one of the many products that littered her kitchen counter top. “Want some? I don’t know if it’ll work for beaks, but I don’t really know what your skincare routine looks like.”

Wave shook her head. “Eh, usually not much outside of cleaning my feathers when I shower. Sometimes I use a beak polish, but that’s about it.” Rouge just nodded and went back to dabbing her face with whatever she was using.

Not wanting to just awkwardly stand there, Wave returned to Rouge’s room, taking a seat in the indoor hammock and allowing herself to breathe for a second.

Everything had happened so fast. One moment she was pulling off a casino robbery with Jet and Storm and less than two hours later she was in Rouge the Bat's apartment, wearing her clothes and about to spend the night there. Not that the prospect of it all wasn’t exciting. Truth be told, it was kind of like a sleepover, something the rogues didn’t tend to do much nowadays, but it was still a lot and very sudden. And Wave was spending the night with _Rouge_ of all people. The woman who she’d barely gotten to know outside of a few close encounters the past couple of months, and the woman she’d caught feelings for. Not that they were huge or difficult to hide, but it was still weird to think about. And Rouge was so kind to her, that Wave was worried these feelings would grow. Ugh, they’d be growing just because Rouge was a flirty and affectionate person. She was like that with _everyone_ , Wave wasn’t a special case just because the two were friends now. The compliments and the nicknames, those were just things friends did, right?

“You in there, babe?” Wave poked her head out of the chair and saw Rouge standing over her, smiling fondly. Wave almost let out a content sigh. Geez, she was pathetic.

“Was gonna go to sleep,” she mumbled, yawning for good measure to prove she meant her words. It was only half true; she was sleepy but her mind was still racing with thoughts of her white furred companion. She looked up into teal eyes and felt her head grow ever so dizzy. The bat broke out into a toothy grin and ruffled Wave’s feathers.

“You know, you look cute with your feathers down,” she murmured. Wave smiled bashfully and looked down at the floor. The compliments really never stopped with her, did they.

Rouge leapt into the air and quickly settled herself on the gymnastics bar, making the hammock bounce up and down just a little bit.

“Hope you’re not a restless sleeper,” Wave joked, grinning when Rouge let out a soft chuckle.

“Don’t worry, you’ll remain undisturbed,” she promised, snuggling up under her wings. Wave tucked herself back into the hammock, and heard Rouge spout a few more words as she drifted off.

“Sleep well, songbird. I hope your stay here is long and well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let my girls have a sleepover SEGA, that is all. As always, Like/Comment if that's your thing!


	5. Just a Friend to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You say I'm just a friend to you_   
>  _Friends don't do the things we do_   
>  _Everybody knows you love me too_   
>  _I tried to be careful with the words I use_   
>  _I say it 'cause I'm dying to_   
>  _I'm so much more than just a friend to you_

Wave’s eyes fluttered open and she found herself in an unusually shaped vessel. It was dark, but there was clearly a light outside of her…what _was_ she in? A cocoon? How the hell did she get in here? The tired bird rubbed her eyes and did her best to find the opening in the dark space. She shifted forward and found herself falling out onto a carpeted floor, though the fluffy white material didn’t soften her landing too much.

“Ow…” she groaned, rubbing her head as she blinked to take in the light and her surroundings.

“Morning, songbird,” a silky smooth voice sang.

“Hey Rouge…Rouge!” Wave suddenly remembered where she was, last night’s events flooding her memory. The failed/successful heist, her encounter with Rouge, their escape, their impromptu sleepover. And now she had definitely just fallen out of the hammock onto Rouge’s bedroom floor with all the grace of a penguin trying to fly. Wonderful. “Uh, hey! What are you doing up so early?”

Rouge glanced down at the pink watch on her wrist. “It’s half past ten.”

Wave felt her cheeks flush. “Oh.”

“I have been up for hours, though. I set an alarm for some…errands.” She looked to the side on that last word. Was Rouge hiding something? “Surprised you weren’t up earlier, I would’ve had you pegged for an early bird.”

“Uh, I usually am. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for sleeping in, babe.” Babe. Rouge called her _babe_ . Sure, she’d been giving Wave nonstop nicknames since they met; songbird, darling, hun, babe, but still, every time she heard them it made her heart soar. Ugh, was this what it was like to have a crush? Nice feeling in your heart but knowing in your head that it’s something you shouldn’t have. Rouge was nice to her, but they were _friends_. She shouldn’t be feeling this way about one of the few friends she’s ever made outside of Jet and Storm. She just had to squash those emotions down inside of her and keep being Rouge’s friend. That’s it.

“Want some help?” Rouge was holding out a hand to her, and it occurred to Wave that she was still lying on the floor.

“Right. Thanks.” She accepted the outstretched hand and stood up. Rouge wasn’t wearing her gloves, and neither was Wave, so she could feel the soft pads on the woman’s fingertips and palm. Her fingernails also just barely scratched Wave’s hand as she pulled her to an upright position. She realized that this was the first time she’d seen Rouge without gloves. Or at least, paid attention to the fact, as she was able to vaguely recall last night. It wrapped nicely around Wave’s feathered hand, almost perfectly in fact. Like they were made to fit together.

Wave blinked and noticed that the two were still holding hands, despite Wave now being upright. The two glanced down at their intertwined hands. Wave panicked and pulled hers back quickly.

Rouge smiled at her. “Your feathers are really-”

“Oh, sorry.” Wave rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. “I usually wash them more often. They’re probably stiff. I should probably get a shower soon.”

This made Rouge break into a wide grin. “I picked up a few things this morning when I was running errands.” She grabbed a grocery bag that rested on her dresser. “I found some feather shampoo. It’s cucumber scented,” she added, pulling the bottle out of the bag. “And some beak polish, since you mentioned it last night. And a brush meant for feathers rather than fur.”

Wave’s heart fluttered in her chest. “Aw, you didn’t have to get that stuff for me.”

Rouge shrugged. “I like to be an accommodating host. It was really no trouble, since I was out anyway.”

“Still, thanks,” Wave said graciously, taking the products. “Do you, uh, mind if I go shower now?”

“Of course. Take all the time you need, songbird.” There was a friendly glint in her eye. “By the way, I was going to say your feathers are soft. But if this is them stiff, I’d love to know how they feel even softer.”

Once she’d left and closed the door Wave tried her hardest to smother her giddy squeal.

* * *

“Well, don’t you look all nice and shiny,” Rouge purred as Wave entered the living room. She’d taken a long soothing shower, making good use of the shampoo, beak polish, and brush to give her a clean, shiny and fluffy appearance. She’d also borrowed some clothes from Rouge’s closet, a white short sleeve off the shoulder crop top with ruffle trim, and black leggings. She’d considered putting her feathers up even if just in a single ponytail, but she couldn’t find hair ties and she didn’t want to go snooping, so she just left them down.

“Thanks. Hope you don’t mind that I borrowed some more of your clothes.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it in the slightest, hun.” Rouge took a sip from the coffee mug in her hands. She was curled up on the couch, dressed in her usual black unitard and pink chestplate, although she wasn’t wearing gloves and she had on black booties instead of tall white boots. In her position on the couch she looked cozy and relaxed.

“I think my clothes look great on you,” she continued, scanning Wave up and down. The swallow flushed at the feeling of being shamelessly checked out, not exactly hating it but not entirely loving it either.

“You’d better be careful handing out that many compliments, Miss Rouge. I just might steal your whole wardrobe,” she teased, flopping down on the love seat.

Rouge hummed. “I just might let you.” The two sat in silence for a moment before Rouge placed her mug on the coffee table and went into the kitchen.

“Like I said, I had a few errands to run,” she called from the other room. Wave tilted her head, unsure where Rouge was going with this. “This was one of them.” Suddenly a familiar gray bag was tossed into the living room. It landed on the coffee table, opening as it made impact and spilling a bunch of hundred dollar bills on the table and ground.

Wave froze, knowing exactly what this was. “What…”

“I stashed it during your heist and failed escape. Went back for it in the morning when there was less of a risk to fly away with it.” Rouge leaned against the kitchen doorway and crossed her arms. “So, there you go.”

“You’re giving it to me? Why?” she asked, still dumbfounded.

“Your team stole it fair and square. I think you deserve it. Besides, it’s just money. Boring paper bills. If it were gold coins or gems, that’d be more my style.”

Wave didn’t know what to say. Rouge was a world famous treasure hunter and thief, and she’d just willingly handed over a bag that had to hold hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because the rogues “stole it fair and square”? Despite how kind Rouge had been the whole time she’d given Wave hospitality, it was a little strange for her to just hand over stolen goods like that.

“Thanks,” she said earnestly.

“Don’t mention it. I didn’t even really need it anyway.”

“Well thanks anyway.”

“Yeah.” Wave cleaned up some of the money that had fallen out and shoved it back into the bag, tying the top of it tightly so it would stay shut. She looked back up to see Rouge staring at her fondly, blinking and stiffening up when Wave caught her. “Uh, you hungry?” she asked.

Wave grinned. “Starving.”

“Good. I picked up some muffins too.” The two headed into the kitchen, Rouge setting a clear box of muffins on the counter. “Hope you like poppyseed.”

“Those are my favorite.”

“Well, guess I got lucky that I picked the right ones.” Wave eagerly took one of the muffins from the container. She hadn’t been lying, she really was hungry, and got to quick work devouring the pastry. It only took her a few quick bites before the muffin was entirely gone. She looked back up at Rouge to ask if she wouldn’t mind Wave having a second one, and was surprised to see the woman casually eating a banana.

“Don’t you want one of these? You picked them up.”

Rouge waved the banana dismissively. “I’m not really in the mood for muffins. Have as many as you’d like.” Wave attempted to hide how happy she was to hear that. As much as Rouge was trying to play it off, it was incredibly obvious that her errands that morning were just getting Wave things. The money she didn’t even want, the swallow beauty products despite the fact that Wave probably wouldn’t stay long, the muffins that she herself wasn’t in the mood for but picked out for Wave. And how she kept casually letting Wave wear whatever of her own clothes she wanted. Rouge was so nice to her, though Wave couldn’t figure out why.

“How long are you going to keep spoiling me, Miss Rouge,” she teased, helping herself to another muffin.

The bat looked at her with a strange sort of fondness. “As long as you wish, Miss Wave.”

The swallow did her best to ignore the way her heart soared.

* * *

“Say, have you ever gone clubbing before?”

The pair were chilling in the living room, the tv on serving as mindless background noise as the two girls chatted. There had been a dip in the conversation as they sat there, not saying anything, until Rouge broke the silence with that question.

“No, I haven’t. I’m usually too young to get into places for cheap anyway unless I have a fake i.d.”

“Do you have one?”

Wave nodded. “Yeah. It just has a different name than my own in case we get into a jam, and it makes me look 21. Jet and Storm do too. Jet because he’s an idiotic fourteen-year-old, and Storm because he loves gambling.” She absentmindedly played with her loose feathers, unable to recall the last time she’d let them just hang like this. “Why do you ask?”

Rouge shrugged. “I was just curious if you wanted to hit up a joint tonight for some partying. Not sure how long you’ll be staying here, but I figured we might as well make the most of it. You in?”

She thought about it. Clubbing did sound fun, it probably just involved a lot of dancing and partying, which Wave wasn’t opposed to. Hopefully Rouge had enough sense for neither of them to drink, since they were both under 21. Maybe Rouge knew a place she’d attend with friends, people she could introduce Wave to. That idea struck a nerve with her, Rouge hanging out with other people, but she tried to ignore it. Rouge was a free spirit, she could do whatever she wanted, hang out with whomever, she wasn’t bound to only be Wave’s friend just because Wave had a crush on her.

“Where’s the spot?”

“Oh, real close by. I’m pretty sure they’ll be open tonight. I’ll have to check with the owner."

“You know the owner?”

After a moment Rouge raised a playful eyebrow. “Yeah, I do. She’s a real peach, I’m sure we’ll get in no problem.” She smiled, as if waiting for a response from Wave, but it was hard to think when one sentence bounced around in her mind.

 _She’s a real peach._ This was someone Rouge was friends with? She? Who was she, how did Rogue know her? Clearly they were friends, but was that all? Sweet Babylon, why was Wave jealous all of a sudden? She couldn’t let Rouge know of her jealousy, though.

“Awesome. What’s the name of the place?” she asked instead. Somehow that adorable smile got even more cheeky.

“Club Rouge.”

Wave felt like an idiot.

“Oh right. Your club. That you own…” Wave mumbled, crossing her arms and trying to sink into the sofa. _Please just let me disappear,_ she silently asked the universe.

The universe must have been busy.

“The very same. I’ll have to check with myself, and probably some dj. I doubt Vector’s available, but Brick might be. He helps me run this place. Real nice guy. Has a wife and kids. I bet you’d like him. Oh, and Cress could tend the bar tonight. Either her or Tim. If neither’s available I might have to call up Sunny…” Rouge continued listing off things she had to do to set up for tonight, pulling out a hot pink flip phone and dialing away. While she planned, Wave tried to busy herself by paying attention to the tv. It was just mindless infomercials, so she allowed her mind to wander.

Jet and Storm. Hopefully those two were safe. They’d probably be thrilled to find out she got the bag of cash back, once they finally reunited again. But who knows how long that would take. Who knows where they had flown off to? Wave trusted them, and knew they wouldn’t just abandon her, so they were hopefully close by. But neither of her teammates were the sharpest tool in the toolbox, so they could have just as easily flown to their next location, just assuming Wave would find a way to meet them there.

Ugh. Boys.

“Hey, you good there Spacey Tracy?” Rouge waved a hand in front of the zoned out girl’s face. Wave blinked and came back down to Earth.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she reassured her. “I’m just thinking about tonight. I’m excited.” She showed a relaxed smile, despite the anxiety chipping away at her on the inside.

“Good.” She gave Wave a friendly pat on the shoulder before suddenly gasping. “Oh! I can help you pick out an outfit and help you do hair and makeup for tonight if you want!” Rouge clasped her hands together and blinked pleadingly at Wave. The swallow sighed and pretended to think about it.

“Hmm…oh fine, of course you can help!” Rouge squealed happily and threw her arms around Wave, nuzzling her cheek softly. Wave hoped her crush wouldn’t be able to feel the warmth that blossomed throughout her face at the friendly action.

* * *

“Okay, I’ve got just the thing for you.” Rouge practically dove into her closet with purpose. Wave couldn’t help smiling. She was seated on the guest bed, already mostly dressed up for the evening, in Rouge’s clothes, of course. Her outfit consisted of form fitting bubblegum pink jeans, a baggy ruby red jacket, red shoes, and white gloves adorned with gold bracelets. Wave wasn’t used to bright warm colors, but she agreed with Rouge’s choices since she looked pretty good.

Speaking of Rouge, the bat in question was also dressed nicely for the evening. Her attire included a low cut light purple top that exposed a bit of her white chest fluff, matching cobalt vest and tight pants, deep purple boots, a gold belt, and purple fingerless gloves. Rouge was right, that pink looked good on her, but Chaos did that blue stand out in just the right way.

“How’s this?” Rouge held up a white square cloth. “You usually have a bandana, at least when I’ve seen you, so I thought this would be kinda your style.”

Wave nodded. “Perfect.”

“I could also do your hair if you want. I think the two braids look is cute on you.” Wave clamped her beak shut and nodded, because _what the fuck did Rouge just call her_ **_cute???_ **

“You’re too nice to me, Miss Rouge,” Wave teased as the bat grabbed the brush and a few hair ties.

“I don’t have a lot of close female friends. Sue me for trying to treat you well,” she replied, seating herself behind Wave and began combing through the purple feathers. The swallow immediately relaxed at the sensation, closing her eyes and leaning into Rouge’s touch. It had been a while since she’d properly styled her feathers. It was just never a priority, putting it up in two braids and leaving it like that got the job done just fine. Jet sometimes put his mohawk up in a ponytail, and Storm’s feathers were too short to do anything besides pigtails (not that they let that stop them) so feather styling wasn’t necessarily foreign to them, it’s just that Wave wasn’t used to having someone else braid her feathers for her. Doing it with Rouge seemed almost…intimate, if she was allowed to think wishfully. The soothing sensation of fingers running through her feathers, the light tug as they were braided together, the occasional moments Rouge would place a hand on Wave’s shoulder or back to keep her in place, all set her skin aflame and her heart racing.

Rouge talked as she did her friend’s hair. Sometimes, if she were close enough, she’d slightly breathe on the back of Wave’s neck, sending shivers down her spine. If Rouge noticed the swallow’s strange behavior, she didn’t know it. She was mostly rambling on for the most part anyway, about the preparations she’d made for tonight since the club hadn’t been open in about a week and a half, leaving Wave to just hum in acknowledgement every so often or give a short response.

“How are your feathers so soft?” Rouge asked as she was tying up the last braid. Wave froze, not sure how to respond.

“Uh, I mean, as long as they’re groomed they should stay nice. You’re lucky I haven’t molted yet.” She forced a small chuckle, but internally cursed herself, grateful Rouge was sitting behind her so Wave wouldn’t have to face her after that ridiculous comment. _Oh sure, Wave, just mention that you molt when the seasons change, that’s really attractive._

To her surprise, Rouge laughed in return as she tied the white bandana around Wave’s head. “Ugh, I feel you, darling. My molting cycles are so gross. Just ask Shadow. Fur. Everywhere.” She ran her hands down Wave’s braids with a small sigh. “Anyways, Miss Wave, I think you look lovely.” Fingers gently rested on Wave’s shoulders and the girl practically melted.

“Thank you, Miss Rouge,” she said wistfully, gently leaning back some more into the physical contact. Worrying that it might come off as too forward or weird, Wave willed herself to pull away and turn around so she was facing Rouge. Teal eyes gazed at her expectantly. “Hey, want me to do your hair?” It was looking a bit messy.

“Sure. I was mostly just going to curl the ends myself and add some gel, but you can brush it if you’d like.” In a second Rouge is holding out her own brush, with thicker bristles, to Wave, a smile on her face that was clearly hiding excitement under the surface. No sooner after the swallow accepted it, Rouge immediately turned around, sitting up straight with her wings folded in, but her tail wagging back and forth. Wave stifled a giggle. She really liked doing girls’ night stuff with her friends, huh?

Rouge’s fur was only slightly tangled, and towards the bottom didn’t have the same upwards curl Wave was used to seeing, but it glided very nicely through the brush, and came out looking very soft and silky. Wave wished she could remove her gloves just to be able to touch the fur, but she didn’t want to push any boundaries. So, just compliments on the appearance and small talk about whatever had to do.

Once Rouge had curled and gelled her locks, she had another proposition for Wave.

“Let me do your makeup? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, I just think you should look a little more bright hitting up the club.”

Wave chuckled. “This outfit and my purple feathers aren’t bright enough for you?” Rouge stiffened, a light dusting of pink on her muzzle as she stuttered trying to rephrase. Wave laughed again. “I’m kidding, I’d love nothing more. Show me what you’ve got, batgirl.” Rouge visibly relaxed before zipping over to her dresser and grabbing a few makeup bags.

“Now I’m not sure how good this will look, since stuff like the eyeliner is designed to work with fur, not feathers,” she rambled as she settled on the bed, pulling out products. “But I’ll give it a shot. And besides, nothing I might do could possibly make you any less gorgeous.” Wave smiled. The compliment consistency continued to fill her with happy, buzzy feelings, but it wasn’t leaving her as flustered. She sat up straight on the bed and looked at Rouge in anticipation.

The bat chewed on her lip contemplatively, her sharp fang poking out, and Wave couldn’t help but stare. “Actually, songbird, do you mind laying down for this? I think I could get a better angle that way.” Wave nodded and silently lay on her back, turning her head so she was still looking at Rouge. A hand gently grabbed her chin and forced Wave to keep her face pointed up at the ceiling. “Eyes up,” Rouge ordered, removing her hand slowly. Was it Wave’s imagination, or did her fingers linger on Wave’s lower beak, gently tracing it with her thumb as she pulled away. She didn’t have too much time to dwell on it, though, since the next thing she knew, Rouge was positioned leaning over her, legs straddling Wave’s waist and an eyeshadow brush in one hand as the other cupped Wave’s face.

It was suddenly very hard to breathe.

“I think this position will work best for me. Any objections?” Rouge’s voice was soft and her eyes were big and caring, almost like she was worried about scaring Wave away. And while the girl’s heart was beating quickly, she knew it wasn’t out of fear.

“Fine by me,” she responded, her eyes fluttering shut. She felt a fluffy makeup brush swipe across her eyelids, clamping her beak shut and grabbing at the bed comforter so she wouldn’t giggle and squirm at the tickling sensation. Every movement Rouge made Wave was hyper aware of, she felt how close the bat was to her, the fruity and flowery scent between them, gentle breaths that fell on a freshly glossed beak. The intensity when Rouge held Wave’s face still as she leaned in close, slowly applying the eyeliner and mascara, caused Wave to hold her breath. Once the look was finished, Rouge booped the end of Wave’s beak and allowed the swallow to sit up and admire herself in a handheld mirror.

“It’s great.” It was. The gloss made her beak shinier and sparkly, the light purple eyeshadow gave her eyelids a sort of shimmer, and her lashes looked thick and dark. Rouge clearly tried her best with the eyeliner, but it was a little sloppy and uneven, since it wasn’t meant for feathers. Still, she felt pretty and totally ready for tonight.

“Glad you like it!” Rouge said brightly. She removed herself from Wave’s lap and the girl immediately missed the contact.

“Would you like me to do yours?” It’s a terrible shot in the dark. Wave had never been good at makeup on other people. She’d tried doing Jet’s eyeliner one time before he had a “not date” with Sonic, and it ended up being a blurry mess. At the time Wave blamed Jet’s dumb inability to stay still, but looking back she wasn’t completely blameless. She also tried helping Storm out with eyeliner and mascara before, and every time, smudged or crooked. Wave supposed she was just better at doing it on herself rather than others.

Nonetheless, the bat lit up and handed Wave a couple of products. “Sure! Use these, I think the colors will look good with my outfit.” She straightened her back and closed her eyes. Wave was nowhere near confident enough to try Rouge’s hovering and straddling method, so she just picked up the small brush and blue eyeshadow and got to work.

Rouge was very still and cooperative, and her eyes were closed for the majority of it, but that didn’t stop Wave’s frantic heart. She took off a glove to blend the blue eyeshadow with her finger, her fingertip lighting up the second she touched Rouge. Gaia, this unrequited crush was way more difficult than it was worth. Case in point, as she applied Rouge’s baby pink liquid lipstick, she accidentally smudged a bit next to her lip, so she used her thumb to wipe it away with one long swipe. At this Rouge had opened her eyes and looked down at Wave’s hand. Teal eyes then darted up to meet cobalt blue ones, and time stood still. Her hand rested under Rouge’s chin, her thumb gently on her lower lip. Rouge’s gaze flickered down to Wave’s beak. It would be all too easy just to lean in more, to connect their mouths, to give in to temptation…

Panicking, Wave dropped her hand and leaned back. “I, uh, I think you should do your own eyeliner.” She held out the eyeliner pen, turning her head to look straight at the wall. She couldn’t bear to face Rouge, especially since what had just happened was so normal, and yet she _still_ got flustered. Friends do makeup. Friends touch each other’s faces when doing it. And friends didn’t make it _weird_ to do any of those things.

The eyeliner was taken from Wave’s hand without question as the swallow continued to stare at the wall. Ugh, Rouge was probably wondering why Wave was acting so weird. This whole “getting ready” situation had her on the edge this whole time, but it was just because she and Rouge kept touching and being close, which was a thing friends did! The nicknames, the closeness, the looks Rouge kept throwing her, they were all platonic, nothing more. Sweet Babylon was Wave really so starved for any kind of non-familial relationship that she just had to go and fall for the first girl to be her friend? Great idea, Wave. If she finds out, you’ll lose her for sure. Her heart, which had been beating at practically hummingbird’s speed this whole time, felt as if it had been pierced with a skewer.

“Hey, you alright?” A hand on her knee snapped Wave back to reality. Rouge’s brow was creased and her eyes full of concern.

“Yeah, just a little nervous for tonight, ha ha,” she lied. “Hey, your eyeliner looks killer!” There was still hesitation in Rouge’s eyes, but she smiled back at Wave.

“Thanks, hun.” A beat of silence fell between them. It was awkward and heavy and Wave wanted to say something to break it but at the same time had no idea what to say.

Luckily she didn’t have to, since Rouge’s phone buzzed not a moment later.

“Oh good, Brick’s available tonight. And so is Cress! Perfect. They’ll be here around nine to set up.” She tapped out some words on her phone. “I’ll introduce you to them, they’ll love you, I’m sure.”

“If they’re anything like you, I bet I’ll like them too.” Rouge paused and looked up from her phone, a small smile on her baby pink lips. She threw Wave a wink. Wave felt her stomach flip.

This was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be longer, but it was getting too long so I decided to split it into two parts, the second you'll see next week  
> Also if I haven't explicitly said so yet, updates will be every Wednesday unless they're early.  
> As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated!


	6. Can't Take My Eyes off You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Pardon the way that I stare_   
>  _There's nothin' else to compare_   
>  _The sight of you leaves me weak_   
>  _There are no words left to speak_   
>  _But if you feel like I feel_   
>  _Please let me know that it's real_   
>  _You're just too good to be true_   
>  _Can't take my eyes off of you_

At nine sharp two of Rouge’s employees, Brick and Cress, showed up. Brick was a tall, muscular black bull with a septum and one chipped horn. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, black boots, expensive looking headphones, gold bracelets around his wrists and a heavy looking gold chain around his neck. By appearance alone he was terrifying, but when Rouge introduced him to Wave, it was clear he was a big friendly sweetheart.

“You’re Wave? Nice to meet you! Rouge has been going on about you for weeks-”

“Oh, hush it, will you?” Rouge elbowed him in the ribs, throwing the towering bull a fierce scowl.

“You have, though,” Cress teased. She was a husky with thick, curly red hair and a white muzzle with a small scar, blue eyes that scanned over Wave as they were introduced, a snout that revealed sharp canines as she smiled. She was wearing a short sleeve purple top, dark jeans, white sneakers, and a few silver bangles on her wrist as well as a couple rings on her left hand. Her tail wagged slightly as she shook Wave’s hand, but if it weren’t for that, Wave would have been completely intimidated by her. Maybe it was because she was pretty, maybe it was because she leered at Wave with a suspicious gaze.

“Don’t you both have jobs to do?” Rouge insisted, giving Cress a bump on the arm. The wolf and bull smirked at her and went to do their respective tasks. Brick set up a DJ booth and Cress took position behind the bar.

“Marcos should be here around quarter of ten. He’s our bouncer,” Rouge explained. “Doors are opening at ten thirty. I’ve got boring manager stuff to do in my office until then. Feel free to hang out or do whatever, okay?” Wave nodded. “Lit. See you in a bit, songbird,” she called, flying to the back room.

“So, Wave…” Cress started, her tone already teasing. Wave stiffened up but looked at the husky. “How’d you meet Rouge?”

Wave scoffed and crossed her arms. “That’s classified.”

“So, heist?” she asked knowingly.

“Uh…Yeah.”

Cress nodded and continued cleaning the bar surface. “Thought so. You rogues have a reputation not unlike our batgirl.”

“Yeah, we do,” Wave muttered lamely.

“Plus Rouge already told us,” Cress added. She pointed a finger at herself, then Brick, who nodded like a bobblehead. Wave looked between the two of them confused.

“Then why’d you ask me?”

The husky shrugged. “Just to see how chatty you are.”

“The answer? Not very.”

Brick piped up. “Has Rouge said anything about us?”

“Not really,” Wave admitted. “She mentioned you co-own this place with her and you’ve got a family.” She turned to face Cress, who was setting up some glasses. “She didn’t say much about you, sorry.”

“Not much to say,” Cress said casually. She tapped the small scar on her muzzle. “Even this is a boring story. Oh don’t pretend to look surprised, everyone wonders about it. Was at a bar when a fight broke out. Someone broke a glass and pieces shattered everywhere. One shard hit me in the face. Wasn’t even involved in the fight.”

“Dang. Were…you okay?”

“Eh, never was, never will be, but that’s not important.” Cress tossed the cleaning rag she was holding over her shoulder and propped up both elbows on the bar, resting her head in her hands. Wave saw her tail wagging slightly behind her. “What is important is you, darling.” Wave felt her face heat up. “Our Rou-Rou has been extra focused on a certain bird as of late. Been saying a lot of nice things about you.”

“Oh, really?” Wave played dumb to hide her excitement. “Well, you know Rouge, she’s a real sweetheart-”

“No, not really,” Cress interrupted, her tail swishing back and forth in an almost predatory manner. “She’s not usually this nice to people she’s just met. Men, women, otherwise. Inviting them into her home, sharing loot after heists or treasure hunts, buying them things. What makes you so special?”

Wave had no answer for that. Cress thought she was special? Really? Despite the things she just listed, Wave couldn’t really believe it. So she chose to ignore the question.

“You call her Rou-Rou?” she asked instead.

Cress’ tail stopped swishing, but she didn’t address how Wave had suddenly changed the topic. “Yeah. Not to her face, though. She hates it.” She threw Wave a wink. “Keep that in mind next time you wanna get under her skin.”

“I, uh, guess I will,” Wave muttered, slowly walking over to Brick’s DJ setup. Luckily for her it seemed Cress was picking up her tasks once more.

“So, Rouge let you wear her favorite red jacket, huh?” Brick’s deep, intimidating voice suddenly spoke up next to her.

“Oh! Yeah, she let me wear it. I didn’t know it was her favorite, she just kinda gave it to me with the rest of the fit. She said it looked good on me. I’ll, uh, make sure to take good care of it.” She flashed Brick what she hoped was a confident smile.

 _“You’re rambling,”_ the annoying voice in her head told her.

“Zip it,” she ordered them in return, though thankfully not out loud.

“Good to hear. Rouge is very protective of the people and things she cares about.”

“I can imagine.”

The door to the back area opened. Rouge stuck her head out and smiled fondly when her eyes landed on Wave. “Hey songbird. How’s it going up here?”

Wave smirked. “It’s going just fine, _Rou-Rou.”_ The bat’s eyebrows shot up and she immediately glared at Cress.

“You told her, didn’t you?”

“Just that we call you the nickname, and you hate it.”

“No, the nickname’s fine, it’s you I hate though, Cressie,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. Cress sneered at her own teasing nickname, but her eyes looked playful. “With a burning passion.”

“Damn. And after everything we’ve been through.” Rouge visibly stiffened at that, and the statement rang in the silence that followed. Wave had no idea where the awkward atmosphere had come from, but all of a sudden it was suffocating.

Brick coughed. “Uh, Rouge, did you need something?”

“Oh! Yes, I did. Just need you back here to help me with something. You were the last person to file the lightbulb shipment orders, and I can’t for the life of me find them.”

“I got you, boss. Be right back, ladies,” he said with a salute, making his way to the back.

Once the door shut, Cress immediately turned her attention back to Wave. “She likes you, y’know,” she stated bluntly.

Wave let out a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah, I sure hope she does. I am living at her place.”

The husky just shook her head. “Look, maybe your crush on her has blinded you from seeing the truth, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know how one of my closest friends acts when she wants someone.” She took a sip from a water bottle that Wave hoped just had water in it. “She’s gonna flirt with you until you get the hint. And you obviously like her too. So don’t keep her waiting.”

Wave stiffened. Was her crush that obvious? “You’re very intuitive.”

Cress shrugged, taking another drink from her bottle. “Sometimes. But when the most obvious woman in the world is into the most oblivious woman in the world, it doesn’t take a detective brain to see how they both feel based on only a few interactions. You like her. She likes you. So give it a shot.”

What she was saying was…a bit unexpected. Obviously Rouge liked her, but Wave just couldn’t see what Cress was claiming was “obvious.” Rouge was a kind, caring, and flirty person, and Wave just happened to be around. So the compliments and suggestive words didn’t necessarily mean anything.

But Chaos, did she want them to mean something. She wanted it to mean Rouge thought of her more than just an ally, she wanted it to mean Rouge would let Wave kiss her if she tried to, she wanted it to mean that Rouge wanted to be her girlfriend just as much as Wave wanted it.

“What did you mean, by the way? About what you two have been through?”

Cress’ ear twitched. “Nothing out of the ordinary for a couple of well known thieves. She employed me on some of her missions cuz I was pretty good when it came to electronics. Don’t worry, though, it was strictly a business partnership.”

“I’m not,” Wave lied, guilt seeping in over the weight she felt lifted from her chest.

“Sure you’re not.” Cress shrugged and crossed her arms. “I mean it though. You’ve already swept our girl off her feet. Just don’t drop her.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” The smile on her face was positively devilish. “Have fun tonight. Rouge was planning on it. She opened the club tonight for you, you know.”

“She did?”

“Mm-hm.” She leaned back, her arms still confidently folded. “She wasn’t planning on opening it again for another week. So have fun.”

“Will do,” Wave promised meekly.

“Good.” Cress took another sip from her water bottle. “Go get your batgirl, Robin.”

Wave didn’t have the heart to tell Cress she didn’t get the reference.

* * *

At 10:30 the doors were opened and the place started filling up almost immediately. It felt a little awkward being there, among so many strangers set to the backdrop of bright colorful lights and bumping music she was unfamiliar with. She at first tried to pointedly ignore the bar, but things got too crowded for her too soon, so she decided to go chill with Cress. The woman had promised that Wave could chill with her if it was too noisy or much or if she felt uncomfortable. It was a sweet gesture, but of course it was only temporary, as Cress had to quickly focus on doing her job rather than chatting it up with Wave. Eventually the swallow moved to the end of the bar, hiding away as best she could from the hustling and bustling. Thankfully, no one had really bothered to notice her.

As nice as the seclusion was, it was also a bit lonely. Rouge had come out at one point and had been greeted with some cheers and plenty of chatter, which she entertained with her head held high and her chest puffed out (not that Wave was looking or anything).

An hour in, and while she was still trying to make the most of things, Wave could feel her social and emotional battery starting to drain. The music was getting more annoying and occupying her thoughts, the room was feeling smaller and more suffocating, and the lights shining in her eyes felt like they were making it their goal to blind her. Fuck, why did she have to be here alone? It would be so much easier if she had-

“Hey, how’s it going, songbird?” A purple-gloved hand fell on top of hers that lay on the bar, and the anxiety that had been building up began fizzing out. Rouge’s warm smile and kind eyes soothed whatever sting the sounds and sights were previously causing her.

“Oh, hey Rouge. The club looks really good, looks like everyone’s having a good time.” No way she was letting her friend know how close she’d just been to panicking.

“I was hoping you would be too, but it seems you’ve holed yourself up in the corner over here.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just thought I’d chill a little bit before I go back to having some real fun.” Rouge raised an eyebrow at that.

“Really?” Wave nodded. “Because you’ve been ‘chilling a little bit’ for an hour now, and I haven’t seen much ‘real fun.’” Damn it, Rouge knew. But…

“Have you been watching me?” she asked knowingly. The smile on Rouge’s face didn’t falter.

“Perhaps. I was meaning to approach you earlier to ask you something, is all.”

“Well, you’ve approached me. What’d you wanna ask?”

The bat’s gaze shifted down to her hand, still on top of Wave’s, that hadn’t moved since she approached. Her eyes snapped back to make contact with Waves’. “May I buy you a drink?”

Wave snorted. This was _her_ club, she didn’t have to pay for shit. “Really?”

“What, a lady can’t buy drinks for the cutest girl who showed up at her bar?” Rouge’s thumb gently drew circles on the back of Wave’s glove, yet Wave felt like it penetrated right to her core. Rouge shot her a fiery gaze under half-lidded eyes, her ever remarkable smirk on her lips. Chaos, did Rouge realize the kind of effect she had with that look? And the offer to get her a drink and calling her cute…Wave was falling way too hard for her friend based on nice gestures and platonic flirting.

“Well if you really want to,” Wave leaned in closer, her voice dropping an octave. “I’m not going to stop you.” She returned the bat’s smirk and raised an eyebrow at her. Two could play at whatever this game was, and as long as Rouge didn’t catch on to Wave’s intentions, what was the harm of having a little fun?

Rouge’s gaze shifted down to Wave’s smirk, a bit of fang poking out as she bit her own pink lip contemplatively. Her eyes snapped back up to meet cobalt blue, and she leaned in as well. Their faces were mere inches apart, never breaking eye contact before she spoke again.

“I’ll be right back with them, then,” she whispered in a sultry voice, giving Wave’s hand a squeeze as she pulled away.

If Rouge kept this up Wave was going to just straight up kiss her. Subtlety be damned.

She watched the object of her affection strut across the room and up to Cress. The woman leaned against the bar and spoke a few words at the husky, who was crossing her arms and giving her a knowing smirk. Wave looked away, trying to ignore the irritation bubbling below the surface. Despite what Cress said earlier, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Part of her was hoping Rouge may have been playfully flirting back earlier, but this just looked like how she was with her friends. Damn it. Wave supposed it was unsurprising, though still annoying as fuck.

In the midst of her self pity party the lights changed and the music changed to a louder, faster song. It startled her out of her brooding, the sudden bright blue and purple lights and the beat of the song pounding in her ears. She shook her head to center herself again, and couldn’t help glancing back at Rouge, now taking two cups each with a pink drink in them from Cress, who handed them to her with a wink. The husky caught Wave’s stare and gave her a cheeky smile. Wave huffed and turned away again, not wanting the stupid jealous feeling to continue to grow.

Luckily, Rouge had finally approached her and held out one glass.

“For you, Miss Wave,” she called over the music. Wave took the glass and inspected it. It was pink, there were bubbles fizzing, and it was topped off with a maraschino cherry. It looked like a familiar drink, but Wave couldn’t recall it.

“This better not be alcoholic,” she said with a playful nudge.

Rouge shook her head. “No way. Shirley temples!” The girls cheersed their drinks and drank them, Rouge downing it by throwing the glass back with a few chugs, and Wave trying her best to match it, but ultimately having to take a few breaths between sips. The two then both took their cherries and ate them off the stem in a single bite. Once they were done, Rouge immediately grabbed Wave’s hand and pulled her to the dance floor. “Come on, let’s go dance!”

In a blur of light, speed, and sound, Wave found herself on the dance floor, one hand still held by Rouge, who was bouncing around and moving Wave’s arm to get her to join in. The lights were bright and the music loud, and while normally it’d be overwhelming for Wave, right now all she could focus on was teal eyes half hidden by blue eyelids, a smile so giddy and energetic, and a purple gloved hand gripping her own tightly. Wave felt her body jumping to the beat of a song she didn’t know as she shared in Rouge’s excitement, allowing herself to dance. A couple of times Rouge would lift up her hand and spin it, trying to spin her partner as well. Wave always obliged, even though each time it was messy and they often kept bumping into people. It didn’t matter how messy and out of focus everything was, though. She was here, with Rouge and that was enough.

Wave allowed herself to be lost in the music and her partner’s secure hold.

* * *

At 2 am Club Rouge stopped serving drinks, and by 3 am they were closed.

Wave was collapsed on a barstool as the last patrons filed out, the music that had been thumping in her ears suddenly being turned off and the blinding colorful lights being switched to regular white fluorescent lighting. At some point during the night the red jacket she was wearing had come off, and her feathers had come out of their braid on one side. Wave could only imagine how her makeup looked at this point.

Somehow she made out Rouge’s voice in the midst of her tired, fuddled thoughts. “Thanks, Brick. I’ll probably be coming to you a lot in the next couple of weeks. Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your check in the mail, alright? Thanks again, dude, appreciate you. Cress, appreciated your help, dear. Oh hush, I’ll text you about it tomorrow. Have a good night.” Wave propped her head up on one hand, it feeling too heavy to stay elevated on its own. Gaia, when was the last time she was this tired?

Rouge seemed to notice as she walked over. “Ready to head upstairs, hun?” All Wave could do was nod; she didn’t even attempt to get off the barstool properly, instead ending up slumping forward. She probably would have fallen to the floor if Rouge hadn’t been there to grab her arms and support her with her own body. “Come on, babe, I don’t need you falling asleep on me right here. Just walk or fly upstairs with me, got it?” Wave let out a tired groan, but did her best to sit herself back up, scooting off the stool (still with Rouge’s hands as support) for real this time instead of falling over.

It probably took longer than necessary, but eventually the pair were inside the upstairs apartment, and Wave wasted no time getting to Rouge’s room and collapsing on the bed. Walking had both exhausted her and woken her up a little bit more, so as much as her body was begging her to lie in place, it wasn’t like she was on the edge of consciousness. Still, exhaustion was taking over as she lay on her side, holding her head up with her hand and thinking of how to muster up the strength to change into pajamas.

Rouge flew into the room after her, landing gently on the opposite side of the bed. “Getting sleepy, are we?”

Wave made her best attempt at a laugh, but it came out more of an amused sigh. _“You’re_ not. You seem fine. Nocturnal ass bitch.” She yawned, drowning out the sound of Rouge’s chuckle in her ears. “I could probably fall asleep right here.”

“I thought you preferred sleeping in hammocks.”

“Yeah, but your bed is so nice.” To emphasize this point, she let her head fall from its position on her propped up arm and hit the cool pillows below. The soft blankets were a cozy comfort to her tired limbs, and as nice as it felt beneath her, she’d love even more to just be surrounded by warmth and support. “It could be warmer. I don’t wanna mess it up by moving the covers, though.”

Rouge tilted her head at the sleepy swallow. “I may have a solution.” Wave raised an eyebrow and her friend laid down on her side and opened her arms. “Come here.”

Wave’s traitorous heart thudded in her chest, but nothing was going to stop her from snuggling up to her crush _when said crush was inviting her into her arms_ , so Wave did what any rational person would do and practically leapt into Rouge’s embrace. She found a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, her head resting against something soft. A slight turn of her head showed her face was buried in Rouge’s chest fluff. Immediate warmth flooded her body being held like this. “You’re really comfy,” she mumbled. “Why’s your chest such a good pillow?”

“Couldn’t tell ya.” Her hand ran gently up and down Wave’s back in relaxing strokes. The bird let out a sigh.

“And your fur is so soft.”

“I brush and condition it.” The statements sounded so serious and matter of fact, which was odd for sure; Rouge was usually a little more banter-y than this. But Wave didn’t pay it much mind, she felt herself starting to drift off so it was probably just her imagination that Rouge was talking weirdly.

“I could probably fall asleep in your arms,” she murmured, nuzzling Rouge’s chest fluff some more and wrapping her arms around her cuddling partner just as tightly as she herself was being held.

No verbal response from Rouge this time, but Wave thought she caught a soft hum of acknowledgement.

Gaia, being held like this felt so right. Rouge was such a welcome presence, sturdy and warm and so comforting made Wave feel like she was about to melt. Her crush was holding her and it was a big deal because even though it was clear Rouge didn’t reciprocate any of her romantic feelings, she couldn’t help feeling so _loved_ in this moment. It was probably just strong platonic feelings though, mixed with her adoration of their physical closeness.

 _I like you._ The words she longed to say out loud, that bounced around in her brain, that danced on the tip of her tongue, that she knew would change everything once they hit the air. The words that she was scared to even think too much, in case her thoughts became so loud that Rouge's sensitive hearing picked it up.

 _“I like you, Rouge,”_ she thought once more, feeling herself begin to fade and succumb to sleep.

Wave must have been dreaming already, because there was a brush of lips against the top of her head, and words were spoken that made her feel like she was floating.

“I like you too, Wave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Presidential Alert: The girls are flirtingggggg. Also fuck SEGA Rouge has chest fluff for cuddling instead of boobs and you cannot change my mind  
> As always, comments/kudos much appreciated!!


	7. i wanna be your girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I don't wanna be your friend_   
>  _I wanna kiss your lips_   
>  _I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath_

It had been a week. One week Wave spent at Rouge’s apartment, having meals with her, sharing clothes, spending an amount of time with her that neither were used to even spending with their teammates. They’ve gone shopping a couple times, partied at Club Rouge some more, and every night, instead of resting in their respective hangout beds, fell asleep in each others’ arms on Rouge’s guest bed. Wave could certainly get used to this.

Which is why on the eighth morning of her stay, it somewhat sank her heart when Rouge suggested something to her.

“Wanna give your teammates a call?”

Of course she did. It’d be the right thing to do, since they still had no idea what had happened to her for a whole week. And since she joined the Rogues, Wave had never spent this much time away from them, at least not without contact. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss them.

It was just…her desire to be with her friends was absolutely outweighed by her happiness being with Rouge. Wave couldn’t remember the last time she had a close friend that wasn’t Jet or Storm. It was rather lonely being a rogue, in all honesty. If anyone understood that loneliness, it was Rouge. And damn was she good at making Wave feel cared about and less lonely. It was one of the reasons Wave was falling for her.

Yes, as much as she hated to admit it, she was clearly falling for Rouge. Who wouldn’t? She was pretty, confident, flirty, sweet, sensitive, funny, caring, and just…ack. Everything about her had Wave enamored. The nicknames she used made Wave’s heart beat in her chest, the bit of protectiveness she showed Wave whenever they went out together had her grinning like an idiot, the gentleness she showed her was something Wave didn’t even realize she needed.

“You think it’s safe to call them?” she asked, stirring the cream into her hazelnut coffee. Rouge had gotten her to try coffee while she stayed there, and to Wave’s surprise she really liked it.

“I mean, it looked like the casino had moved on when we passed it the other day. Weird shit tends to happen around here, including plenty of crime that goes unsolved and generally ignored. I really wouldn’t worry at this point if I were you.”

They had passed by the casino one day when they were on a walk in the city. It seemed to have gone relatively back to normal and was no longer brimming with cops. Still, Rouge has taken the care of hiding Wave’s face with her largest pair of Hollywood style sunglasses, and standing in between Wave and the casino as they passed by. But apparently it had been long enough after the robbery that they weren’t as on edge anymore. Go figure.

“I suppose you’re right.” Wave said, ignoring the strained feeling in her chest. She pulled her communicator out of the pocket of her-or rather, Rouge’s-jeans. This whole time she kept her communicator close, just in case. She never knew when she might need it.

Surprisingly, on only the second ring, someone picked up.

“Hello?“

“Jet?”

“Wave! You’re okay!” the boy squawked, delighted. Wave was taken aback. Jet sounded happy to hear from her for once. Obviously the circumstances were different, but it still felt weird.

“Of course I’m okay. How are you guys? Did you both make it out in one piece?”

“Storm, it’s Wave. She’s alright!” A smile appeared on Wave’s beak as she heard a loud thud from the other end, just picturing Storm running down the hall and crashing into a doorway, or something else as clumsy. “Of course we did, who do you think we are?”

“The toughest guys I know,” she reassured him. “Where are you at right now?”

“Laying low in Glyphic Canyon. Where are you?”

“Still in Central City.”

“What?” Jet shouted. Wave moved the communicator away from her face, annoyed at the loud sound. Thankfully, Storm chimed in much quieter with, “Why?”

“I was able to find shelter. With…a friend.”

Jet sighed. Wave knew that sigh, it was the “disappointed but not surprised” sigh, that usually got followed up by a half assed lecture. “And you’re sure she’s trustworthy?” he asked instead. They both were aware each other knew who “she” was.

“I am.” The pause from the other end was excruciatingly long. Jet was only her boss in function with the Rogues, he was still a child she didn’t need the approval of. Still, she felt guilty whenever he was disappointed in her.

“Well, the important thing is that you’re safe,” he said finally. Wave released her breath she’d been holding and grinned at Rouge.

“Oh, and I got back the money that was stolen from you, by the way.”

“You got the money? Fuck yeah!” Wave had to cover her beak to keep from laughing at Jet’s hoots and hollers on the other end.

“Hey, why are you calling now?” Storm asked, Jet’s celebration still audible in the background. “It’s been a whole week since the heist.”

“I figured it best we limit contact in case either of our signals could be tracked. But things seem to have died down here, so it’s probably safe for us to reunite soon.” The strained feeling in her chest returned as she looked up at Rouge’s supportive smile. “Unless you guys don’t think so,” she added quickly, ignoring Rouge’s curious stare. “Because, even though it died down, that doesn’t mean no one’s on alert. And I don’t want you guys to have to come back here if it’s unsafe. I’ll be alright staying here as long as necessary for-”

“Wait,” Rouge interrupted Wave, laying a hand on the latter’s arm. “How about I get you to a different location for them to pick you up? That way your boys aren’t announcing their presence in their giant aircraft to a city whose casino you just robbed a week ago.”

“Good idea.” Rouge gave Wave’s arm a reassuring squeeze. Wave melted at the touch. “Jet-”

“I caught that. Smart plan from your friend there, if an obvious one.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing this was probably one of the highest compliments Jet would give someone. “How about we rendezvous in…Westopolis tomorrow at noon sharp. It’s equidistant from both our current positions. I’m sure you’ll be able to spot out airship.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Over and out, Ocean.”

“Over and out." Wave clicked off her communicator and put it away. Yes! She was going to see her friends again! They were safe and sound! And she was going to be home soon!

“What was that about?” Rouge’s voice snapped Wave out of her daydream of reuniting with her friends.

“What was _what_ about?” she asked.

“What you said. About being willing to stay here even longer.” Wave still didn’t understand. “Don’t you want to see your friends again as soon as possible?”

“I do. I really do. But…” Gaia, this was going to be difficult to say out loud without sounding completely lovestruck and weird. “I’ve spent so much time with you this past week. I guess it’s gotten comfortable. It’s gonna feel weird to leave, you know?”

Rouge nodded thoughtfully, fiddling with the straw in her strawberry smoothie. “Do you… _want_ to leave?”

_No. Not you. Not yet. Not before telling you how I feel._

“I can’t abandon my boys. I love them, and they need me.”

Rouge sighed. “Of course you can’t. Chaos knows I get how that is.” It had just occurred to Wave then that she’d barely heard about Rouge’s fellow Team Dark members the entire time she stayed there, just the offhand comment about Shadow or Omega, but no sign of them and no contact from either. Perhaps it was strange, or perhaps they were always busy like this.

“I’ve had fun though, Rouge. I really have.” _I’ll miss this._

“I’ve had fun too.” Rouge gently laid a hand on top of Wave’s, and looked her cautiously in the eyes. “I’m going to miss you.” _I hope you do._

“I’ll try to visit whenever I can,” she promised, squeezing Rouge’s hand in return.

“Oh you’d better,” Rouge whispered. The words she spoke sounded like an invitation. Not just for Wave to visit, but for something more. Her lips turned up in a smirk and an eyebrow raised ever so slightly. It was a challenge.

For some reason Wave found herself staring at Rouge’s smirk. Soft looking pink lips, a hint of fang peeking out; Wave was mesmerized.

They were sitting so close. Their bodies were facing each other, they were less than a foot apart, and they were holding hands. Wave found she was breathing deeply, her heart pounding in her chest and the mess of thoughts swimming in her mind.

Wave broke her gaze to look up at teal eyes, which it turned out were focused on Wave’s mouth in return. Was it possible they were both having the same thought?

There were plenty of ways to find out, but too many of them involved words that Wave was too scared to say.

So instead she just allowed one hand to rest on Rouge’s waist, the other cupping her cheek, before pulling her in for a kiss.

She was mentally prepared for the worst, to be physically pushed away and emotionally crushed, which is why the feeling of Rouge kissing her back made her down right melt. Soft hands grabbed Wave’s face, as if trying to hold her in place.

Her pounding heart didn’t stop, but it was reassured when she pulled away slightly and was met with Rouge maintaining her grip and bringing her back into their kiss. The hand cradling Rouge’s cheek lowered to her shoulder, then to her back just above her wings. Rouge’s hands moved to Wave’s shoulders’ pulling her impossibly closer. Her lips were incredibly soft and tasted sweet like the strawberry smoothie she’d been drinking.

Was this a dream? It had to be, because it was so nice and perfect and it had Wave feeling like she was floating. Her head was spinning and her skin was on fire, but all of it was so deliciously wonderful.

This time Rouge pulled away, agonizingly slowly, and as Wave opened her eyes, she did her best to convince herself that she was waking up from a dream. Because there was no way Rouge had just kissed her. No way in hell.

As if sensing Wave’s inner turmoil, Rouge chuckled and leaned in again, gently pressing a kiss to the top of Wave’s beak.

“I like you,” she breathed out. There. She’d done it. She’d finally admitted her feelings.

The bat just smiled fondly. “I know, hun. You told me the second night you stayed here.”

Wave froze at the memory. “What? You mean…that wasn’t a dream?”

Rouge laughed. “No babe, it wasn’t.” Wave groaned, hiding her blushing face in her hands. “It’s okay, darling,” Rouge reassured her. “The feeling is mutual.”

Wave’s hands lowered so her eyes were visible, but she was still covering her beak. “It is?”

“I…yes?” Wave just stared at her, dumbfounded, but Rouge returned the gesture. “Are you serious? We just kissed on my couch!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that meant you liked me!” Wave protested.

Rouge sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Chaos, and I thought you not realizing that I was flirting with you was bad.”

“You’ve been flirting with me?”

Rouge’s head snapped up and she looked at Wave with incredulity. “Since the night we first met, thanks for noticing.”

“I thought that’s how you were with everyone.”

“Babe.”

Wave sat there, trying to process things. Rouge said she’d been flirting with her. Rouge had just kissed her. Rouge said the feeling was mutual…

Rouge liked her back.

“Oh Sweet Babylon…” she whispered, her hands covering her beak as her eyes widened. “You like me too. You like me too!” Rouge laughed again and Wave tackled her into a hug, falling on top of her on the couch and burying her face in Rouge’s neck. Laughter continued, from both women, as Rouge tightly hugged her back. Wave removed her head from Rouge’s neck and the latter kissed the tip of her beak.

“I like you too,” she reaffirmed. “I wanted to ask you on a date. If you’re up for it.”

“Of course!” Wave was worried the enthusiasm might come off a little strange, but Rouge’s smile only grew bigger. “What were you thinking of?”

“Well, since you helped me pick out that cool hoverboard on our shopping date yesterday-it was intended to be a date, don’t give me that look; I was just too nervous to officially ask-maybe you could finally teach me how to hoverboard.”

Wave pumped a fist in the air. “Yes! Finally!” She dropped the arm and looked Rouge in the eyes. “I mean, of course, obviously. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“I trust you.” Still in their horizontal position, Rouge started rubbing circles with her thumb into the small of Wave’s back. “How’s tonight sound? Some time before sunset?”

“Sounds perfect,” Wave sighed, letting her head rest on Rouge’s chest.

“It’s a date, girlfriend,” Rouge said. Wave’s heart fluttered.

“Girlfriend?” The question wasn’t complete, but both knew what she was asking.

“Only if you want.”

Her, “I do,” was almost immediate.

The two immediately relaxed in their impromptu cuddling position.

“Then it’s a date, girlfriend.”

* * *

They stood outside Central City Park, board and gear at the ready. Gear since, despite Rouge’s protests that she could handle herself, Wave insisted her girlfriend wear a helmet and elbow and knee pads, just in case. She was a beginner, after all.

“I’ve ridden plenty of skateboards, hun,” Rouge insisted, clipping on her boots. “And if I fall off, I can still fly. You can trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Wave said, fine tuning the board to make sure it was in shape to ride. “It’s that no matter who you are, hoverboarding doesn’t come easy. Well, I take it back, that blue hedgehog and his friends were able to grasp it pretty quickly. But still, as long as its your first time, you wear the gear. I had to, and so do you.”

“Uh huh. And how old were you when you first started?”

Wave bit the inside of her cheek at the memory. Five years old, wearing chunky protective gear, her mother smiling at her with pride, her father…a little less supportive, but it was just how he was. A little bit of toughness to help her grow up a strong leader. She couldn’t be weak. She couldn’t…

“Damn, was that too personal of a question?” Rouge attempted to crack a joke, making Wave realize how long she’d been silent.

“No, sorry, just had to think about it for a sec. Five I’m pretty sure I was five.”

“Wow, so I’m gonna be learning from a professional then, huh?” Rouge shot her a cute grin. “Well, I’m ready when you are, teach.”

Wave switched on the board and placed it on the ground, letting it hover a little in the air. Eagerly, Rouge hopped on with one foot, but the sudden shift in weight caused her to stumble, nearly falling over if Wave hadn’t caught her in her arms.

“Easy, girl,” she said softly, relishing in the blush on Rouge’s muzzle and her frustrated scowl. “Okay, the first thing to pay attention to is balance. You can’t go anywhere if you’re falling off the board, right?” Rouge nodded. “Great. Here, try one foot at a time, more slowly this time.” Focusing more on foot placement and balance, Rouge was able to steady herself on the hoverboard. “Perfect. Now we’re going to try a little movement, got it. But slowly. Go. Very. Slow-” Wave was cut off as Rouge tilted slightly back and the board shot forward from under her. Rouge collapsed backwards on top of Wave again. The pair watched the board zoom away for a few seconds before lodging itself in a bush several yards away.

“-ly,” she finished. Rouge looked at her sheepishly.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Practice makes perfect. Let’s go get it and try again.”

It took about twenty minutes of practicing stabilization, thirty minutes of learning how to make the board speed up, slow down, start and stop, and almost an hour of learning turns, but Rouge was finally getting the hang of it. Her drift was sloppy and she had a tendency to shift her arms and feet too much, but for a beginner, she was excellent. Before long, she was zipping through the streets, making sharp turns around the corners of buildings, even getting in a few drift jumps here and there. It was no easy feat, and it didn’t look like it either, but the smile on Rouge’s face was brighter than the sun.

Rouge practiced some zigzag patterns and drift jumping, before taking a lap around the park with some impressive turns, skidding to a stop just in front of Wave and hopping off the board. Her knees wobbled a little as she steadied herself, which Wave understood. It took a long time to get used to the change from keeping feet planted on a hoverboard to free reign on the ground.

“How was that?” Rouge asked, panting slightly. Her fur was disheveled, and she looked exhausted, but she was sporting the biggest, hopeful smile.

“It was fantastic, babe. I’m impressed with how well you did in such a short amount of time.”

“I’m a pretty fast learner.” She stepped on the back end of the hoverboard, kicking it up so it was in a vertical position and she could rest an arm on the top. Chaos, she looked cool. “It’s getting dark out, think we should go home?”

This had certainly been a fun first date, one that Wave never wanted to end, but she couldn’t deny the facts. The sun was starting to set, and it’d be difficult to keep boarding in darkness. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Wanna try boarding back? Like both of us on it at once? Kinda like a motorcycle ride?” Rouge scuffed her shoe on the ground, it looked like she was just kicking the pavement, but Wave knew her girlfriend’s nervous ticks well enough by now. 

As fun as her suggestion sounded, the warning bells were going off in her head. “I don’t know. I’m unfamiliar with this board, and the weight distribution might be off…” She trailed off at the sight of Rouge’s puppy dog eyes.

“Please?” Wave was still hesitant. “I understand if it’s dangerous, though.” It was dangerous. Extremely. Wave wasn’t even sure if she was cut out for this board, since it was nothing like her Type-W, that she’d been using for years and that was designed to work with her style and her alone.

“Not to the point where it’s entirely impossible,” she lied. “And besides, I love danger.”

Rouge’s face lit up. “Okay.” She tossed the hoverboard down. “I’ll hold onto your waist behind you, if that works.”

Wave shook her head and laid a hand on Rouge’s shoulder. “Actually, I should be in the back. I have more experience steering, especially with additional weight.”

Both of them stepped onto the board. Rouge steadied herself by stretching out her arms in a t-pose, Wave’s hands resting on Rouge’s hips. The hoverboard was already wobbling, but Wave dug her heels into it and focused on centering her gravity with the piece of equipment, thankfully balancing it out. She didn’t miss the way it sunk down slightly with the additional weight. Some boards were built for or could be modified to hold two people, but this one definitely wasn’t. Everything about the situation and Wave’s years of experience told her this was a bad idea.

“Ready?” Rouge asked brightly.

“You bet,” Wave replied, starting the board up.

Oh, the stupid things people did for love.

It started off not as badly as Wave had expected. The hoverboard was moving a little more slowly, and it wobbled a bit more, but all things considered, she had control over its movements and they were speeding along at a steady pace. No fancy tricks, no cheeky show-off-y turns, that she could show to Rouge another time. A smile spread across her beak as she let her thoughts be filled with “another time” scenarios.

She got distracted. And distractions got you hurt.

Suddenly, Wave was aware she missed the window of time to make a large, easy right past a building. Instead of continuing forward and finding another right somewhere up ahead, her brain told her to _go right now!_ Stupidly, she listened, and before she could even blink Wave was thrown backwards off the board to the pavement and landed on her back first, then her elbow, then her head, then the rest of her body.

The world was dizzy and noise all blended together; typical city noises mixed with hushed voices around her wondering aloud if she was okay. One voice penetrated the others, and in no time at all a white bat with an absolutely scared expression was right over her. Was that…tears in her eyes?

“Come on, songbird. That was one nasty fall.” Wave was being lifted off the ground. A pair of strong arms supported her, she was being carried “bridal style,” if she recalled the name of the hold correctly.

“It’s alright, dear, I can carry you home.” Rouge said softly in her ear. Wave shook her head and tried to focus, feeling more coherent.

“Boarding back like this isn’t a better idea,” she said, crossing her arms. One hand touched something wet as it brushed her elbow, and she pulled it back to see a smear of blood on her fingers. Great, she’d scraped herself.

Rouge chuckled. “I’m not gonna board. I think we’ve both realized that’s dangerous by now.” She shifted Wave in her arms so she had a more secure hold on the girl. “However, these wings aren’t just for show, you know.”

Before Wave could protest and insist she was fine, the pair were already soaring into the sky. Wind blew through Wave’s feathers and the sound of it rushing by was loud, but had a slight comfort of familiarity to it. Still, she clutched the fabric of Rouge’s shirt as she surveyed the skies. They were above most of the buildings in the city. The clouds were overhead, and the sun was nearly set, bathing the world in a nice warm orange glow. As fun as flying around was, it was nice to be held like this, just watching the world go by. She looked up at Rouge’s face, her teal eyes sharp and determined, her lips set in a serious frown. When she noticed Wave looking at her, the seriousness vanished and was replaced with soft eyes and a sweet smile that made Wave melt.

She looked down at the world directly below them, and nearly laughed when she saw Rouge was carrying the hoverboard clutched between her legs. Well, her arms were occupied, and a hoverboard like that wasn’t something you wanted to just leave somewhere. Wow, the board wasn’t even slipping, and those things could be heavy. Rouge’s legs were pretty strong. Wave tried to not let her mind wander into dangerous territory with that thought, instead bringing herself back to take in the view of the city.

If this is what dates with Rouge were like, full of beauty and fun, she hoped there’d be many more in their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would Wave kiss with a beak you ask? Don't worry about it I'm projecting here.
> 
> Next update, reunions and meetings aplenty!


	8. Boys Ain't Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _These boys ain't shit_   
>  _I'm not here for it_   
>  _If you want me act like it_   
>  _Act like it_   
>  _These boys get pissed_   
>  _'Cause I won't stand for it_   
>  _If you want the sweet life_   
>  _Then act like it_

When the girls finally touched down at Club Rouge, the sky had grown dark and Wave was feeling a lot better.

“I’m fine, babe, really,” she insisted as they entered the apartment.  “It’s not like I haven’t taken a hit before. I’m not hurt.”

“Your arm is scraped,” Rouge retorted, sitting her girlfriend down on the couch.  “Let me patch you up, I have some multi-colored bandages. Would you like blue or green?”

Wave opened her mouth to say “neither,” but closed it after thinking for another second.

“Green.”

“Coming right up.”

Wave sat in silence as her wound was cleaned. Rouge gently wiped away the now dried blood with a wet paper towel, getting little specs out of Wave’s feathers and everything. She lightly chastised Wave as she did so, though.

“This was a bad idea, wasn’t it?” she asked, dabbing the mostly clean scrape.  “You knew it was a bad idea, two people on one board and yet you did it anyway.”

Wave frowned.  “It could have worked. We just took that last turn too hard.”

Rouge tsked as she applied neosporin to the bandage.  “Then why take the risk at all? Especially since you were the one in the most danger at the back?”

Silence as the band-aid was stuck to Wave’s elbow, covering the scrape easily.  “I just wanted to make you happy,” she finally said.

“Aw, love,” Rouge cooed. She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Wave’s beak.  “Getting to hang out with you made me happy. Seeing you get hurt, that made me sad.”

“I’m sorry. I was stupid.”

“Yeah, you were.” Rouge took Wave’s hands delicately in her own.  “But I love stupidity. And we can’t all be perfect.” She brought Wave’s hand to her lips and kissed the back of it.  “You, however, are very close.”

Wave pulled back and giggled nervously.  “Shut up, Rou-Rou,” she mumbled, laughing louder as her girlfriend’s soft smile flipped into a frown at the nickname.

“You get a free pass in calling me that, since you’re so cute.”

“No you.” Both women chuckled.  “Hey, my arm feels a lot better now,” Wave remarked, bending and straightening her arm to make sure the band-aid held in place.

“Aw, that’s great, love.” Rouge held up Wave’s elbow, inspecting it for a moment before planting a kiss on top of the bright green band-aid. Wave couldn’t help her giggle.

“Is dating you just going to be constant smooches?”

“Is that a problem?”

Wave pretended to think about it before cradling Rouge’s face and leaning in.  “Not in the slightest.” The way Rouge kissed her was soft and loving, her hands held Wave’s waist gently but made her feel secure and protected. All too quickly Rouge was pulling away, though her hands lingered.

“We should get to bed. Don’t want to accidentally oversleep.”

Wave nearly whined.  “We’re meeting them at noon.”

“I’m not usually a morning person.” Wave relented with a sigh.

“You did sleep until 1 pm yesterday.”

“See?” The pair laughed. Wave planted a smooch on her girlfriend’s cheek, earning a sigh from Rouge’s baby pink lips.  “Come on, songbird,” she continued with a yawn, standing up from the couch and pulling Wave along to her room. They changed into pajamas and both did their evening routines with a certain happy comfort they’d gained over the past week.

Thinking about their past week, Wave couldn’t help but smile. It had been such a good time she’d spent with Rouge. The pair had bonded, found happiness and comfort in each other, and had fun for a majority of the time together. And they were girlfriends now. Girlfriends! Wave had never envisioned herself with another person for a long time, especially considering her status as a rogue and her common distaste of other people that had been practically ingrained in her since birth. But with Rouge she felt some sort of understanding, a connection she’d never felt in anyone before. They understood each other, they saw each other, they liked each other.

“Feel like utilizing that hammock one more time before you go?” Wave hadn’t used the hammock at all, save for her first night, since she and Rouge typically stayed up late talking until one of them (usually Wave) would fall asleep, while the other (usually Rouge) gently tucked them under the covers and cuddled with them until they fell asleep in turn. Sure the hammock had a sense of familiarity to it, but where was the fun in that?

“Nah, I’d rather fall asleep in your arms,” Wave suggested, taking a seat on the bed and resting her head on the pillow with crossed arms and a smirk at Rouge.

The bat blinked at her in mild surprise before smiling back fondly, laying down next to her lover and reaching out her arms. Wave accepted the invitation and snuggled right up.

“I think we can make that happen.”

* * *

There were few things in this world more breathtaking to Wave than flying. The sound of steady beating wings, the wind whipping through her feathers, the familiar burn in her lungs from heavy breaths when flying distances. But nothing was better than having people to share it with.

Wave turned her head to look at Rouge flying by her side. The bat’s eyes were wide and she was sporting a genuine grin. The sun, high above them in the sky, reflected off her deep black wings and illuminated her bright white fur. Angelic as always.

Rouge finally caught Wave staring. Her smile turned more soft and it left Wave breathless. Well, more breathless than before.

“Sure is quite a view up here, huh songbird?” Rouge’s sweet voice penetrated the sound of the wind rushing in her ears. Wave looks down at the city they’re currently flying over, the tall metal buildings sparkling in sunlight, the regular mobian people and vehicles that look like miniatures. There’s lots of construction going on, an expected sight for such a big and growing city. The machinery is close to Wave and Rouge, and the swallow can’t help but think that she might knock into one of them if she flew a little lower.

She glanced back up at Rouge again to find the bat still watching her. Oh yeah. She’d asked a question, hadn’t she.

“It sure is,” she replied smoothly, her eyes never leaving Rouge. The woman’s blush was obvious as she turned her attention back to the city below.

“There’s our drop off,” she said, pointing to a tall building just ahead of them.  “And we’re five minutes early, perfect!”

“More like fifteen minutes. My boys have never been ones for punctuality.” Both girls laughed and swooped down to the building.

“By the way, I hope you don’t mind, I have a friend in the area that I’d like you to meet. He’s waiting on the building,” Rouge said casually.

Wave paused.  “Uh, Okay.”

Two pairs of feet landed on the roof of their building, it was a skyscraper that was some company headquarters, Wave thought. At the opposite end of the roof was a dark figure standing perfectly still, arms crossed as they observed the rest of the city.

Rouge rolled her eyes and called out,  “Enjoying your rooftop brooding, edge lord?”

The hedgehog’s head swiveled and he glared at Rouge with annoyance. But the sassy smirk never left the girl’s face.

“Hello, Rouge.” The bat lifted off the ground and glided over to her friend, grabbing him in a hug and flicking one of his quills. She received a scowl and a light shove in return. The guy looked at Wave and gave her a once over as she approached them.  “You must be Wave.”

“Hi.” She waved awkwardly.  “And, uh, you must be Shadow.”

“Yup.” He lifted an eyebrow.  “I’ve heard plenty about you from Rouge. She goes on and on-”

“Oh, shut up, why don’t you?” Rouge stuttered as she tried to get a hand over Shadow’s mouth, but the hedgehog easily wiggled out of her grasp, and suddenly teleported a few feet away from her.

“Woah. Neat trick,” Wave remarked. Shadow shrugged.

“Just Chaos control.”

“Still neat.” The following silence was awkward, and Wave’s last word rang in her head.  _ Neat.  _ **_Neat._ ** _ Nice going, weirdo, _ her inner monologue scolded her.

“Why did you ask me here again?” The question Shadow asked was directed at Rouge, and although it was a fair one, Wave couldn’t help feeling a little ticked off. What, was she taking time out of his precious day by speaking to him for two seconds?

“Well, you’re the one who kept bugging me about eventually meeting Wave-”

“Because you don’t shut up about her.”

_ “And _ because you don’t have anything better to do today.”

“You don’t know if I had anything better to do today,” Shadow protested with a narrowing of eyes. Rouge just crossed her arms challengingly.

“Did you?”

“…No.”

“Exactly.” Rouge’s smug smile didn’t falter, despite Shadow flipping her off and rolling his eyes. Wow, they were a shade of red that almost reminded Wave of blood. She willed herself not to shudder at the thought, but almost as if he could read her mind, he turned his head and looked her up and down again.

“Fine, I’ve met your new friend. Are we done here?” Wave snickered. His ill-mannered behavior and closed-offness wasn’t unlike a certain hawk she was plenty familiar with. These two in the same room would either be hilarious or insufferable.

“Wow, so polite, Shads.” Rouge said, shaking her head.

“I’m the ultimate life form, not the ultimate gentleman."

“More like the ultimate loner,” Wave joked, immediately freezing up. Shit, was that something she was allowed to say? Luckily, she didn’t have to sit in her own worry for long, since Shadow was already cheekily grinning at her.

“See? She gets it. No offense, Wave, but I’m not in the mood to interact with more people today.” Wave took the light insult without any fight; she understood how it was to be antisocial sometimes. A distant hum brought her out of her thoughts, a wicked grin appearing on her beak as she knew exactly what that sound was.

“Oh, well then you’re gonna be real mad in a second,” was all she said before the bright red airship appeared from above the clouds, slowly but surely approaching the building rooftop.

“Uh, friends of yours?” Shadow asked, wide eyes not leaving the possible threat.

“Damn right.”

The ship parked next to the building, a few seconds later stairs descending out of the side leading down from the door. Shadow looked ready to run, but at that point Rouge had grabbed him by the arm and was holding him tightly.

The side door flew open and out stepped a prideful looking green hawk. He puffed out his chest and glared down at Shadow and Rouge.

“We’re here for our team member,” he said in a deeper tone than he typically used.  “No funny stuff, or we’ll have to resort to alternative measures of getting her back.” Wave couldn’t help but roll her eyes. This kid and his theatrics were going to be the death of her.

“Hey, fearless leader?” I’m right here, unharmed.” Wave crossed her arms and gave the most unimpressed look she could at Jet. His tough guy bravado faltered for a minute, before he straightened himself up again, marching down the stairs.

“Well, good. Let’s hope it stays that-”

“Hey, Wave! It’s you!” Jet was interrupted by Storm’s booming voice, and knocked right down the stairs as the albatross sped past him to scoop Wave up in a crushing hug. Wave sighed; she’d missed Storm’s hugs more than she’d like to admit.

The over-excited bird set her down and tilted his head to the side, observing her, likely to see if she looked any different.

“Don’t worry, Storm. It’s me,” she reassured him, moving past him to Jet, still lying on the ground, dazed.

“How you doin’ Chicken Little?” she asked, holding out a hand to help him up. He grumbled a little before taking it. As he stood up he eyed Rouge and Shadow again.

“You were staying with these two?”

Rouge shook her head.  “Just with me. I asked Shads to show up for a little greeting.” She elbowed the hedgehog in the ribs when he remained silent.

“Hello. I’m Shadow.” He scowled at Rouge and rubbed his side. “Was that good, mother of mine? Do I need to shake their hands and kiss them on the cheek?” Wave stifled a laugh at Jet’s fake gagging.

“Well, good to see you two won’t be getting along any time soon,” Wave remarked. “Anyways, Shadow, Rouge, these are Jet and Storm.”

“Oh, Rouge I'm familiar with,” Jet growled. Rouge coyly tilted her head, her lips in an upturned smirk. “You tied me up in a tree? You stole my sack of money? Speaking of which, I’d like that back now.” He glanced down at the duffle bag Rouge had flown here with that was currently laying on the ground beside her feet. “What’s this? That isn’t our money bag.”

“Relax, hotshot, your bag is right here.” Rouge opened the duffle bag and pulled out the smaller gray sack. She tossed it to the hawk who gleefully caught it.

“Yes!”

“This one’s my bag of stuff,” Wave explained, picking up the bag and slinging the strap over her shoulder.

Jet scoffed. “What, did you girls go shopping while you were here?”

“Yes,” they responded in unison, deadpan.

“Oh.” Both women laughed at the embarrassed look on Jet’s face, his flushed cheeks and ruffled feathers. There’s a gruff chuckle and Wave realized even Shadow found it amusing. Someone else’s humiliation, figures.

“Yeah, yeah, are you ready to go yet? Or has a week with your  _ girlfriend  _ not been enough?” He stretched the g word out like he’d just said something teasing. Oh right, they hadn’t told anyone yet.

“Yeah, yeah, I really should get going,” Wave said smoothly, ignoring Jet’s jab at her (unknown to him) new relationship.

“Aw, I hope to see you again, hun,” Rouge said with a pout. Wave gave her girlfriend’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“You will.” The pair looked each other lovingly in the eyes.

Jet loudly huffed. His favorite “let’s get a move on” signal. Wave frowned at him, glancing between him and Shadow and mouthing a “say good-bye.”

With a groan, the hawk turned to face Shadow. “Good-bye,  _ sir. _ If I see you again, it’ll be too soon,” he quipped.

“May our paths never cross again, if that’s your desire,” Shadow replied with a sneer. Wave rolled her eyes at the boys being overly dramatic.

“Well, good-bye, darling,” Rouge said, sounding almost somber for a moment. Wave sighed, she didn’t like the sad look in her girlfriend’s eyes.

“Don’t say good-bye,” she insisted, pulling the bat in suddenly for a kiss. Their PDA resulted in a gasp from their boys who’d previously been bickering, and Wave couldn’t help but smirk against Rouge’s lips. She pulled away, satisfied at the slightly dazed look on her girlfriend’s face.

“I prefer the phrase ‘see you later.’” Rouge sighed and planted a kiss on Wave’s cheek.

“See you later then, songbird.”

“See you later, Rou-Rou.” Wave began walking back to the ship feeling a shot of confidence. She raised an eyebrow at Jet as she walked past his frozen form. “Close your mouth, kiddo. You’ll catch flies.”

The three rogues boarded their ship, Wave of course saying one last “farewell,” and the ship sped off into the clouds above.

* * *

The first thing Wave did was speed to her room, dropping off her duffle bag in the corner and going briefly through her belongings to make sure they hadn’t been touched.

“Don’t worry, just as you left them,” Storm reassured her. Him and Jet stood in the doorway.

“Thanks, fellas,” she said gratefully. “Oh, my hammock! I’ve missed you, girl,” she sighed, leaping into it and all but curling up, resting her head on the pillow.

“We’re glad you’re back, Wave,” Storm continued. “I'm gonna make us some pancakes for lunch. See you in the dining room in twenty minutes!” And with that he sped off. Wave laughed, continuing to search around her room all the belongings she’d lowkey missed. She looked up from some pictures she had hanging on her wall to see that Jet was still standing in the doorway, rocking back and forth on his feet.

“What’s up, Foghorn Leghorn?” Jet rolled his eyes slightly at the nickname, but didn’t comment on it.

“So…you and… _ her, _ huh?”

Wave stiffened. Jet couldn’t tell her what to do. Well, he was the leader, but he didn’t have any  _ real  _ control over her. Definitely not her dating life, anyway. Still, it was always nice when your friends did approve of and like your partners. So if Jet had a problem with Rouge, oh well, he could suck it.

“Yeah, me and her,” she said confidently, not letting her nervousness show through in any way.  _ Emotion is weakness. _

“She makes you happy,” he stated. Wave blinked, trying to get a read on him. Fidgeting, plain statements rather than emotional ones. He was trying to come up with the right words for what he wanted to say.

“That’s…good. That she makes you happy. I’m-” Jet took a deep breath. “I’m glad she makes you happy.”

Sincerity. From  _ Jet. _ Wave was speechless. Her brain was racing for something to say, to not get too sappy but also not too sarcastic and ruin the moment.

So she pulled the short leader into a hug.

Jet held still for a moment before gently hugging her back. To hell with emotion being weak. It was so much better caring than being a sarcastic ice block of emotion.

Wave pulled back and ruffled Jet’s feathers lightly.

“Thanks, bro,” she said, a genuine smile on her face mirroring Jet’s.

He nodded, pausing to say one more thing before he left.

“Welcome home, sis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, we love one (1) bird family
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	9. girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _They're so pretty it hurts_   
>  _I'm not talking bout boys I'm talking about girls_   
>  _They're so pretty with their button up shirts_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update last week guys, got a ton of hw for college, and just moved into my new apartment. Hope this is enough until next week! Love you all!

**555-468-2473:** Hey

**Rouge <3:** Who is this?

**555-468-2473:** It’s Wave. You wanted my number, right?

**Rouge <3:** Fucking FINALLY

**Rouge <3:** Good to hear from you, songbird.

**Wave:** I saw you like three hours ago

**Rouge <3:** And I miss you already, dear.

**Wave:** That’s pretty gay, hun

**Rouge <3:** YOU’RE a pretty gay, love.

**Wave:** You don’t get tired of nicknames, do you babe?”

**Rouge <3:** No <3

* * *

**Wave:** Ugh it’s only been a week and I’m already missing those poppyseed muffins you bought for me

**Rouge <3:** You could always pick them up somewhere, a lot of grocery stores carry them.

**Wave:** I wish. We’re on an airship and we only touch down if it’s necessary. Jet won’t budge a grocery store trip as an essential touchdown since we’re plenty stocked up with food

**Rouge <3:** Booo, what a little bitch.

**Wave:** He’s the leader, can’t do much about it

**Rouge <3:** He’s a child.

**Wave:** Remind me who’s the established leader of Team Dark?

**Rouge <3:** Touche.

**Rouge <3:** I’m the one with all of the brain cells, though

**Wave:** Touche.

* * *

**Wave:** Ugh I’m so bored, there’s nothing to DO on this freaking ship

**Wave:** Scratch that, Jet just said that he and Storm are going to go drop some stink bombs on unsuspecting victims. My Tuesday just got a whole lot better

**Rouge <3:** Are you joining them?

**Wave:** Of course? We have a contest going to see who can throw the farthest, who can aim the best, and who can hit the most people

**Rouge <3:** A little childish, isn’t it, songbird?

**Wave:** Well duh. That’s what makes it fun. Don’t come for me

**Rouge <3:** Valid. Well have fun with that. Drop some bombs on guys in suits for me

**Wave:** What, you got a vendetta against guys in suits?

**Rouge <3:** Yeah, cuz they could never look as good in a suit as I do.

**Wave:** Pics or it didn’t happen

**Rouge <3:** Shads and I are going out tomorrow. I’ll send you a pic then

**Wave:** Fuck yeah

* * *

_ Rouge <3 sent a photo _

**Rouge <3:** How do we look?

**Wave:** Shadow looks fabulous. You look stunning ^3*

**Rouge <3:** Good. That’s what we were aiming for.

**Wave:** You were right about the suit ;)

**Rouge <3:** Told you

**Wave:** Going anywhere special?

**Rouge <3:** We’re either going to have a nice normal evening out or commit a crime. We’ll decide on the way.

**Wave:** Why not both?

**Rouge <3:** Not a bad idea.

**Wave:** I aim to please

**Rouge <3:** Oh, is that so? ;)

**Rouge <3:** You read my message five minutes ago. Did I scare you off?

**Wave:** Shut up I’m not good at flirting

**Rouge <3:** You seem fine complimenting me.

**Wave:** Yeah but I just don’t know what to say when I get suggestive stuff back

**Rouge <3:** Apparently, you just think I’m being nice for an entire week even after I kiss you, because you’re damn useless.

**Wave:** Hey! I kissed you, remember?

**Rouge <3:** You’re still useless, hun.

**Wave:** >:(

**Rouge <3:** Omega’s picking us up. I think we’re leaning to a nice evening out with some crime at the end.

**Wave:** Steal something shiny for me!

**Rouge <3:** Jewelry or machinery?

**Wave:** :O Machinery?

**Rouge <3:** Machinery it is. Next time I see you it’s all yours.

**Wave:** What is “it”?

**Rouge <3:** A mystery.

**Wave:** I like mysteries

**Wave:** Must be why I’m so fond of you ;)

**Wave:** Seven minutes ago. Who’s useless now?

**Rouge <3:** Maybe I’ll just keep the machinery…

**Wave:** You wouldn’t

**Wave:** Babe I was kidding

**Wave:** Babe?

* * *

**Rouge <3:** Okay one random fact about yourself, go!

**Wave:** Why?

**Rouge <3:** Because I’m bored and I want to learn more about you. Go!

**Wave:** Fine, uh, what do you want to know?

**Rouge <3:** What do you want to tell me?

**Wave:** I became a rogue when I was 13

**Rouge <3:** Really?

**Wave:** Yeah, that’s really late to start, but I had to pass on my father’s legacy, and he’d insisted up until then that I wasn’t ready or worthy to represent his lineage. He didn’t have any other kids, so I was the best he had. Also the last, since we’re kind of the only rogues left

**Rouge <3:** Dang.

**Rouge <3:** I was going to say, thirteen sounds like an early start for something like a life of thievery.

**Wave:** Nah, Jet started out as leader around the same time I joined. And Storm had been training on the team for a while. I was the late bloomer

**Rouge <3:** Still pretty young I’d say.

**Wave:** When did you start your life of international crime?

**Rouge <3:** Fifteen.

**Rouge <3:** I’d been a good pickpocket all my life, but all of my “crimes” were small or petty. Fifteen is when I really got started doing that professional high crime thievery.

**Wave:** How good were you at it?

**Rouge <3:** Well I haven’t been caught yet! And I don’t plan to be any time soon.

**Wave:** Got any heists coming up?

**Rouge <3:** Nothing planned right now. If you guys do, call me up. I’d be in the mood for some adventure.

**Wave:** I’d love to have you with us. Next time we have a treasure hunt I’ll let you know

**Rouge <3:** Just getting to spend time with you would be treasure enough <3

**Wave:** Red alert! Red alert! We’ve picked up an unusual amount of corniness in this text convo! Commencing operation groan with annoyance and sigh in disbelief

**Rouge <3:** Oh come on I’m not  _ that  _ bad.

**Wave:** Yes. Yes you are

* * *

**Rouge <3:** You up?

**Wave:** Yeah

**Wave:** What’s going on, batgirl?

**Rouge <3:** I can’t sleep

**Wave:** What time is it for you?

**Rouge <3:** 2 am

**Wave:** You wanna talk?

**Rouge <3:** Yeah

**Wave:** Okay

_ Wave started a call that lasted 3 hours _

**Wave:** You fell asleep on call. Glad you feel better love

* * *

**Wave:** Babe omg guess what guess what guess what!

**Rouge <3:** What?

**Wave:** Storm found some old treasure map in storage

**Wave:** You up for some treasure hunting?

**Rouge <3:** Am I ever!!!

**Rouge <3:** When???

**Wave:** I’ll talk to the boys about it, but probably some time next week. It’s some underground tunnels, an old abandoned mine shaft. I’ll give you more details soon

**Rouge <3:** Fuck yeah!!!

**Rouge <3:** Hey, mind if I bring some…friends?

**Wave:** I’d love it if you did. We could actually use Omega if he’s available

**Rouge <3:** He ain’t doing much nowadays. I’m sure he’ll be free. Him and another someone I hope wouldn’t cause too much trouble if he came along…

**Wave:** I’ll tell Jet he has to behave with Shadow around no matter what

**Rouge <3:** Thank you.

**Wave:** Honestly I have no idea what that boy’s problem is. Except my theory that he feels threatened

**Rouge <3:** Threatened by what, if I may ask?

**Wave:** I’ve mentioned that Jet is like totally crushing on Sonic, right?

**Rouge <3:** Oh yeah.

**Rouge <3:** I think I understand what you’re getting at.

**Rouge <3:** Shadow’s not interested, if that’s what Jet’s worried about.

**Wave:** I’ll tell him, though he’ll just deny the crush altogether and yell some dumb shit at me

**Rouge <3:** Such a child.

**Wave:** Yup

**Rouge <3:** I’ll try and keep my boys in check if you keep yours.

**Wave:** Sounds good. TTYL <3

**Rouge <3:** ILY

**Rouge <3:** *TTYL. Auto-correct, lol.

**Rouge <3:** Fr dude it was just auto-correct haha.

**Rouge <3:** TTYL


End file.
